It should not be overly surprising in our American culture of over consumption that the holiday of Thanksgiving is overlooked. Actually in my personal opinion it is forgotten. Even Macy’s this year plans to be open on Thanksgiving Day. The store that celebrates the day more than any other with its wonderful Thanksgiving day parade has decided to open its doors for shoppers to come in and spend, spend, spend instead of taking that day to spend with friends and family. If you haven’t guessed by now I am not a fan of ANY store being open on Thanksgiving. Why can’t families have one day they can gather together? When did families become such a marginalized component of our society?
Now before I go on…let me define what I mean by family. Family is any group of people who you have come to know and love and who help you grow to be the best you can be as a person. That could be your family of origin, your mom and dad, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents etc… But it could also be people you have met in your life journey that mean a great deal to you. Family can be people who you are not related to. In fact for some…the people they are not related to are better family than those who they are related to.
Back to Thanksgiving…no matter how you end up spending this day, even if you spend the day alone because of your life circumstances, I hope that you will find the time to think about those things that you are thankful for. For those who live in America like I do, we have much to be thankful (even if things seem a little upside down in our government right now), we have much to be thankful.
And what am I thankful for? I am thankful for an amazing husband who loves and cherishes me for who I am. I am thankful for four amazing children and three amazing grandchildren. I am thankful for my mom and dad who love me. I am thankful for my brother, sister-in-law and niece who I love very much but unfortunately don’t get to see very often. I am thankful for my church. I am also thankful for three tires that went bad on our trip to Kentucky on my parents van because they went bad on us and not on my parents while driving down the road. I am thankful for the challenges that God sends my way allowing me the opportunity to grow and stretch my abilities and that help me become a better person in the long run. And most of all I am thankful for God who loved me and all of you so much that he sent his son to die for our sins so we, if we choose to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, can have life eternal with him in Heaven.
May you all find ways to celebrate this Thanksgiving…a day that was set aside so we can take a deep breath, look around and discover all we truly have and give thanks.
Beth
Beth's Blog 