Thanks-giving

I LOVE Thanksgiving!!!! It is a needed time of reflection for me. It is SO easy for me to get trapped in the busyness of my family, the cares of the day and so much else I just forget sometimes to really be thankful.
The pilgrims that risked so much to come to the American Colonies understood the necessity of taking time to be thankful. They had survived such desperate circumstances. Many of their shipmates had not. The statistics for the first colonies is staggering. When the time of bounty came they knew to whom their hearts should express gratitude.

Our nation has lost that perspective for the most part --- Thanksgiving instead has become a day laden with holiday stress - trying to acquire the perfect table, the best food, the perfect after dinner activities and so much more that has nothing to do with being thankful.

The past year has been difficult for our family. It has been pretty bumpy on so many different fronts but when I look back I have SO much to thank the Lord for. Our family is healthy and whole. My husband and children and I love each other and love being part of our family. Tim is working. We have all that we need - a home to live in, food to eat, clothes to wear, and enjoyable extras. We have enjoyed the company of family and friends both here at home and those who have visited from other places. The kids all had fun adventures this year. We had healthy animals and gained new ones. Josiah found a fabulous new hobby with his bees. We all found new friends to encourage and walk with us. We have PEARLS and ConfiDance. We enjoy the wonders of the world around us daily and we live in a place we love. The longer I dwell on the things that I have to be grateful for the longer the list becomes!!!!

Most certainly the best thing is our Heavenly Father who loves us. We have grown in our knowledge of Him this year. We have drawn closer to Him and we have found Him faithful yet again.

Things are still rough and life is far from perfect but I need to remember more often to (as my friend Heidi reminded me) "Count my Many Blessings"

So today as we make our pies and treats for tomorrows feast I am struck again by how richly we are blessed. Regardless of the food that we have, the guests that attend, even by the circumstances around us today God is good and that is enough reason to offer thanks.

There is a tradition in our family of starting Thanksgiving dinner with five kernels of corn to commemorate the Pilgrim's lack and their period of struggle where all they had was five kernels of corn to eat per day. My sister told me of a poem that goes along with this tradition. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Thanksgiving Poetry: Five Kernels of Corn - Hezekiah Butterworth 'Twas the year of the famine in Plymouth of old,
The ice and the snow from the thatched roofs had rolled;
Through the warm purple skies steered the geese o'er the seas,
And the woodpeckers tapped in the clocks of the trees;
And the boughs on the slopes to the south winds lay bare,
and dreaming of summer, the buds swelled in the air.

The pale Pilgrims welcomed each reddening morn;
There were left but for rations
Five Kernels of Corn.
Five Kernels of Corn!
Five Kernels of Corn!

But to Bradford a feast were Five Kernels of Corn!"
Five Kernels of Corn!
Five Kernels of Corn!
Ye people, be glad for Five Kernels of Corn!"

So Bradford cried out on bleak Burial Hill,
And the thin women stood in their doors, white and still."
Lo, the harbor of Plymouth rolls bright in the Spring,
The maples grow red, and the wood robins sing,
The west wind is blowing, and fading the snow,
And the pleasant pines sing, and arbutuses blow.

Five Kernels of Corn!
Five Kernels of Corn!
To each one be given Five Kernels of Corn!"

O Bradford of Austerfield hast on thy way,
The west winds are blowing o'er Provincetown Bay,
The white avens bloom, but the pine domes are chill,
And new graves have furrowed Precisioners' Hill!"
Give thanks, all ye people, the warm skies have come,
The hilltops are sunny, and green grows the holm,
And the trumpets of winds, and the white March is gone,

Five Kernels of Corn!
Five Kernels of Corn!
Ye have for Thanksgiving Five Kernels of Corn!"

The raven's gift eat and be humble and pray,
A new light is breaking and Truth leads your way;
One taper a thousand shall kindle; rejoice
That to you has been given the wilderness voice!"

O Bradford of Austerfield, daring the wave,
And safe through the sounding blasts leading the brave,
Of deeds such as thine was the free nation born,
And the festal world sings the "Five Kernels of Corn.

"Five Kernels of Corn!
Five Kernels of Corn!
The nation gives thanks for Five Kernels of Corn!
To the Thanksgiving Feast bring Five Kernels of Corn!

The Patriot's Handbook