Give Thanks

     Greetings friends!  Several years ago, I submitted a challenge to my daughter Taylor to see which one of us could wait until the day after Thanksgiving to do anything having to do with Christmas; music, decorations, etc.  When she asked why, I told her I believed that Thanksgiving was getting lost in the holiday shuffle and that we needed to pause and “Give Thanks” for our many blessings before diving into all things Christmas.

     If I were a betting man this would have been easy money because she would cave every year, usually within the first week of November.  She couldn’t help herself because, you see, Taylor has always loved Christmas and everything about it. The local radio station that played Christmas music helped out because they started earlier every year (This year it was the day after Halloween!)  The Christmas TV ads seem to get earlier every year as well.

     Now don’t get me wrong…. I love Christmas and everything about it too. That’s a big reason why she got that way in the first place. I also enjoy all the food and football that comes with Thanksgiving.  I just believed we needed to hit the pause button between Halloween and Christmas to give thanks to God for our many blessings. Then we could move onto Christmas and the true reason for the season.

     So, in the coming week between now and Thanksgiving, I’d like to challenge us all to slow down a bit and pause to “Give Thanks.”  You and your family could even put together a “gratitude list” of all the people and things for which you are grateful. You may even want to take it a step further and reach out to folks who are less fortunate than you; those who are in homeless shelters, a family that can’t afford a Thanksgiving meal, or our friends in Western North Carolina who may have a hard time feeling grateful this year.

     To get us started, I’ll leave you with the lyrics to my favorite Thanksgiving song. It brings me to tears every year that I hear or play it on the radio. It’s a reminder of where I’ve been and where my Heavenly Father has brought me over the last several years. I pray that you and yours have a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving this year:

Give thanks with a grateful heart,

Give thanks to the Holy one,

Give thanks, because He’s given

Jesus Christ His son.

And now,

Let the weak say I am strong,

Let the poor say I am rich,

Because of what the Lord has done, for us

Give Thanks.

Grace and Peace,

Dennis