A Grateful Heart

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday. Thanksgiving brings back wonderful, enduring memories to me as I grew up in Penna. and was surrounded by the beauty of fall breaking into winter. Our Thanksgivings were very traditional, much like a Norman Rockwell picture. It was cold outside but very warm and cozy in our home. My mom was a great cook and she made Thanksgiving a special occasion. We sat around the table and it was set with her best china. Now I must add my mom and dad were very simple and modest people of modest means but along the way she had acquired some fine china - and the only time it came out was Thanksgiving and Christmas. We usually had a guest at the table, a neighbor or church member who was elderly and did not have family. The turkey was a presentation in itself. If came out on a platter whole and was carved at the table by my dad.

I love Thanksgiving not just because of the memories it invokes but also because of what it represents - a time of giving thanks to God for all He has done for us and for who He is. We should of course always be thankful and have a heart of gratitude but Thanksgiving is a time that the whole country for the most part acknowledges God's blessings on our country and land.

It is a great time to recommit to being a more grateful person in every area of life. Yes, there are a lot of worries and fears in our world today but there are so many more things to be grateful for on a daily basis. When I find myself getting negative - I start a gratitude journal - I become acutely aware of all the good things happening in my life during the day and write it down. If you do this for a few days you become aware of so many great and wonderful blessings that just everyday life brings to you.

I want to end this Thanksgiving blog with another nugget from my dad's writings:

It is the Simple and Gentler things in Life that
keeps us Contented and Sweet...and Success has its.......... place...but
the most Successful Accomplishment you will ever make...is if you can
look in the Mirror and not be ashamed of who that Person really is...Be a
Real Person...Compete yes...but Jesus said..."Blessed are the
Merciful"...not the Successful Only...

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever" Psalm 107:1
HAVE A BLESSED THANKSGIVING.......