More than anything, this Thanksgiving Day in 2020, I am grateful for God’s goodness, greatness and grace.
God is the source of everything good. Today, I resolve again to take nothing for granted. I worship and praise Him for Who He is.
On the evening before Thanksgiving, I immersed myself in God’s truth. I want thankfulness to be ingrained in my life.
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Philippians 4:4-9 NRSV
“... give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Thanksgiving Day brought tears of joy and gratitude, tempered a bit by my sense of unworthiness and shame that is so hard to fully shake.
It’s OK that my husband and I chose to mostly social distance on the lake this Thanksgiving Day, fishing.
It was heartwarming to read of family and friends gathering. Especially touching was to know that my 85-year-old Mom made a full Thanksgiving dinner, even though she only knew for sure that one of her six children would partake.
Even better was that another of my sisters, who led the effort to make sure that 145 Thanksgiving meals were prepared for home bound people in her community, was grateful to be able to share Mom’s Thanksgiving dinner. Becky was following in the footsteps of her granny, and her husband was carrying on the legacy of his recently deceased mother.
I love these connections of faith, family and friendship.
Gene and I were able to enjoy leftovers later at Mom’s, with the sister who is visiting there for the holiday and also our brother. We distanced while eating and wore masks the rest of the time.
I spent a lot of time focused on God, with mostly private moments of worship and praise. I do believe God also receives our acts of kindness and service and our expressions of thanksgiving to others as a form of worship and praise to Him.
Thanksgiving Day has become my time to renew my focus on the importance of doing these things, not just the fourth Thursday of November but in my daily life.
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