Thanksgiving Celebrations

It’s no secret that 2020 has been a weird year to put it in the simplest of terms. I’m willing to bet that everyone who is reading this has had some sort of personal trials this year. Along with all of the personal trials that are typical from year to year, now throw in hearing about and dealing with all of the national and world-wide things that have been thrown in. These things have kind of changed our whole lives and thrown us up-side down this year. That is why Thanksgiving is more important this year than it has been in several years. 

Let’s go back to the first Thanksgiving. The pilgrims had just gone through a year of hell. So many of their loved ones had succumbed to illness, hunger, or the elements during their treacherous journey to the new world and then having to adapt to it. There were times that I’m sure they felt helpless, that they wondered what exactly they had gotten themselves into. They were burying their dead in unmarked graves so they wouldn’t show the natives how many of them they were really losing. They kept on going though. They made their beds, now they had to lie in them.

Persevering through that year proved to be worth it. They were able to form a relationship with a local native, Squanto, who more or less taught them how to survive. He also helped them facilitate an alliance with the local tribe. With Squanto’s help, they were able to more easily thrive in their new home.

After a year in their new home, they gathered up their first harvest and put together a feast to share with the kind natives that helped them. It was a big celebration of thankfulness. It hadn’t been that long ago that they didn’t know whether they would be able to eat at all, and then they were able to have a feast! The feast that is the model of our yearly tradition. 

The Pilgrims that boarded the Mayflower to establish a new home in Plymouth, Massachusetts. 102 people boarded the Mayflower, 52 of the Pilgrims attended the first Thanksgiving feast. They lost many people, they weren’t sure they would survive the trip to get there. Once they got there, they weren’t sure whether they would survive through the winter. By the grace of God, Squanto had been through his own personal trials, but it allowed him to speak English to communicate with them to help them be able to survive.  

This story is what we should be thinking about this year. We might not be all the way through all of our trials yet, but that’s okay. There is never a bad time to count your blessings. It can be easy to check the food and decorations off the list and call it a day, but take some time -either as a family or personally and think about why you should be celebrating. Thanksgiving is a day to celebrate our blessings and remember all of the things in our lives that we are thankful for. Whereas all of the yummy food is an awesome bonus, that isn’t what Thanksgiving is about.  

Again, I know that this year is so different than really any other year usually is, but even through the 2020 craziness there is still so much for every single one of us to be thankful for. You might not be able to celebrate how you usually do or how you planned, but that is what is wonderful about modern technology: you can pick up the phone, send a text, write on someone’s Facebook wall… There are so many ways to enjoy fellowship with one another and share why you are thankful for them. 

Let’s close 2020 out with positivity, love, and thankfulness to set a good energy going into 2021. There are so many more things more important than a turkey or pie. Even when life isn’t going so great, there are still things to be grateful for and blessings to be counted.