My Favorite Holiday!

Here it comes - my favorite holiday! I suppose that maybe my favorite holiday should be Christmas or Easter, celebrating the birth of Christ or His glorious resurrection, but I get so irritated at how commercialized Christmas and Easter have both become. And so I will stick with Thanksgiving as my favorite. It seems like it gets overlooked as you walk into the stores this time of year...they're already marketing Christmas decorations and gifts, and Santa is EVERYWHERE.

By the way...here's a funny...we walked into Walmart for something a week or two ago, and the first thing Mr. Blue-Eyes said was, "Look, Mom! The creepy Halloween stuff is gone!" He was very happy about this (and so was I). And later as we made our way through the store, he yells, "Mom, there's Samson!" Well, it was Santa, not Samson. But as we've never taught our kids that gifts come from Santa, I wasn't all that surprised that he didn't remember the name of that jolly, white-haired fellow. And I was thrilled that Samson was on his mind since he'd been listening to the story of Samson on CD in the recent days. :-) From the mouths of babes...

But back to Thanksgiving... There are many things that I enjoy about Thanksgiving - the yummy turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes and corn, PUMPKIN PIE! But I think mostly I enjoy the opportunity to be with family and think on God's goodness and His continued gifts to us. Pretty much everyone gives and gets gifts at Christmas, and we remember the gift of God's Son to us. But I just enjoy the quiet, less-commercial time in November when we gather to celebrate God's good gifts to us - in the bounty of food He provides, in the jobs He gives us, in the churches He draws us into, in the families He's given to us, in the Savior who sacrificed Himself for us.

This year it's a little more fun, I think. Mr. Blue-Eyes is old enough to understand a bit more of where the holiday came from, and we enjoyed a book about the Pilgrims' and Indians' first Thanksgiving. Recently when we were explaining to him what the holiday is all about, we asked what he was thankful for. And he very sweetly named his Sunday School teacher first. Praise God that Mr. Blue-Eyes admires this godly woman for the warm and caring spirit that she has while teaching Him of Christ's love for sinners!

We are thankful for each of you and the part that you play in our lives. We are thankful for your prayers for us, and we ask that you would continue to lift us up in prayer.

May God bless you and your family on this Thanksgiving Day!