11-8-2019

Good Morning All,

        Psalm 9:1; “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.”

    With Thanksgiving only a few weeks away, the planning begins.  I planted pumpkins this year which are for making pie with.  My middle son is going to make a pumpkin pie with them; I will as well and the contest is on.  He will probably make a deep fried turkey with a great seasoning on it but I will counter with some slow cooked, slow smoked turkey breast to feast on.  He doesn’t even try to make stuffing; he can’t begin to match mine.  I just worry that he will bring cheesecake or pull out some other little treat that I am not ready for.

    This sounds a lot like a war story and not a Thanksgiving story.  We do have a good natured competition; one that I usually come in second on but the food is worth it.  Even though I lose, I don’t eat crow.  Yet this situation is all too common around our tables.  We are approaching the time of the year when most people declare it to be the most stressful 5-6 weeks of the year.  They spend time with relatives they would rather ignore, they eat meals which they do not enjoy and feel like they are watched, judged and sentenced by their “loved ones.”  Add to that, travel time, weather events and heaven help you if politics make an appearance at the table or right afterwards.

    Many have lost sight of Thanksgiving.  Even though every food magazine in the country has the perfect turkey or the perfect pie or the perfect side dish on its cover; it should not be all about the meal.  All this preparation takes a lot of time and energy and it detracts from the point of the holiday.  Stop, reflect on what God has done for you and give thanks for His abundant mercy.  Add to this that His perfect track record points clearly to a future of continued promise.  This is why the Bible so frequently tells us to give thanks.  Giving thanks reminds us of what God has done and is doing for us.  He is truly active in our lives and blesses his people.

    Even if it feels like this year has not been so wonderful; give thanks.  It will help you to remember who the God we have is and what wonderful blessing he does have for us.  One writer put it this way: If you are blessed then be thankful; if you are troubled then be hopeful.  We can be hopeful because God has promised to deliver us from the suffering of this world.  We have his promise of eternal life and the promise of comfort here is in this life.  We are not alone, we have a purpose, we have a hope and we have a promise that never fails.  Give thanks and remember all that God has done!

Gracious Father, we give you thanks for your bounty and joy.  Keep us ever looking to you for our hope and salvation.  Be with those who struggle this time of year; those who struggle with relationships, with their health and with their finances.  Give them your Spirit that they may look up to your glory and rest in your loving arms giving them the peace and the hope that they need.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

  God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret