THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

November 27, 2024

Happy Thanksgiving!

LIFE IN THE FOLD

This past Saturday evening our church enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal together. We attend a small church and we did something a little different this year. Everyone brought foods that would go on charcuterie boards. We had quite a feast and it was delicious.

Our pastors started things off by welcoming everyone. The husband prayed over the food, but then his wife went up front and wanted everyone to to come up, one at a time, and say something that they were thankful for. I understand what she was trying to do, but it just felt very awkward and no one really wanted to participate. I think everyone just wanted to eat, relax, and enjoy time visiting around the tables.

I have always found those exercises in a group setting to be uncomfortable; especially in a church setting. You feel like everyone will think you very unspiritual if you don't begin by saying that you're thankful for God, Jesus, salvation, etc. But then if you do say that, everyone thinks, "Oh! Aren't they trying to be the spiritual one!"

At the Thanksgiving dinner at church, the pastor did begin by saying she was thankful for God......; then added in other things. When no one was participating or speaking up, my sister said that she was thankful for family. I was sitting across the table from her, so she looked at me and whispered, "Just say anything!" Since she had already said family, I said, "I'm thankful for my home." When I did, a lady spoke up and said, "Oh! You're not thankful for Jon or your family? You're thankful for you house over them?" Everyone laughed and I knew that they were joking, but it felt very awkward.

The pastor saw that no one was going to participate and that her attempt at having everyone state something that they were thankful for was bust, she decided to sit down and let everyone go ahead and eat. Knowing her, I think in her mind she had envisioned this being a very special time of everyone sharing and it being very uplifting and meaningful. Her husband, who is my nephew, was standing by my table and said, "I told her not to do this;" but I think she thought that everyone would participate and had thought the outcome would be much different than it was. I'm not being critical of her! I know that her heart was in the right place and her intentions were good.

The truth is, I am very thankful for many, many things! I'm not ashamed of those things that I'm thankful for and willing to tell others; but I just find it awkward when it feels forced in a group setting. Sometimes it almost feels like a contest on who's the most thankful; or those who may be going through a difficult time feels like everyone is more blessed than they are or feel embarrassed at the little that feel grateful for, at that moment.

My sisters and I have a group chat. This past Sunday one of my sisters messaged us to tell us that she was thankful for us and then something individual about each of us that stands out to her. I reciprocated. The other sisters answered about how thankful they were that we are sisters -- or something along those lines. It's something that we probably wouldn't stand up and say in a big group, but something that was specific to just to five of us that made it special.

It's great that on Thanksgiving many people use it as a teaching opportunity for kids to think about what they're thankful for, or to remind themselves of what their blessings are. But perhaps we should strive to live a life of thanksgiving every day, not only once a year.

I have found that in some of my most difficult times, it was easy to lose focus and become overwhelmed by my situation. But if I will stop and begin thinking about prayers that God has answered, ways in which He has blessed me, people who love me...... then my focus will begin to change. I become more faith-filled and God becomes bigger and greater than my problem.

Probably one of the most quoted scriptures we hear regarding thanksgiving is 1 Thessalonians 5:18: "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Another version says, "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."

Paul didn't say to give thanks for everything; but to give thanks in everything! When grief and hardships and difficulties happen, we don't have to give thanks for those things that are happening; but we can give thanks in knowing that God is with us and loves us. We can be thankful that He is greater than the bad things that are happening. We can be thankful that His eyes are upon us and He will never fail us. We can be thankful in Jesus we have a friend that sticks closer than a brother. We can give thanks that this world is not our home, we are only passing through; our eternal home is waiting for us, when this life is over.

I have so many things that I'm thankful for! I am indeed blessed. When I look at everything I have, compared to my parents, I feel overwhelmed. Yet what we have or don't have in life shouldn't equal how happy we are. My dad and mom had very little financially or materially, yet our home was filled with love and laughter and joy. Why? Because God was the center of their lives, therefore, the focus of our family. All things revolved around Him and our relationships with Him.

Let's strive to live lives fill with thanksgiving! In everything... all things... give thanks to the Lord; for He is good and His love endures forever!!

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

We all know the traditional story if the 'first' Thanksgiving. Details aside, the pilgrims were thankful to be in a land where they could worship God in the way they felt was right and true. They were no longer compelled to follow someone else's doctrine they didn't believe. And they were thankful to have survived their first winter.

Now, we can still be thankful that we can each worship God in the way we feel is right. We can (and often do) disagree about details. We may even disagree about the nature of who God is. But we can all be thankful that we are allowed to follow that belief (as long as we don't take that right away from others).

We don't have to worry that owning a Bible puts us at risk of being arrested or thrown into an arena to be killed. We don't need to fear having all our belongings taken from us and being thrown into a camp with other believers. Honestly, we don't have to live with the risk and fears that many other generations have had. We can all be thankful for that.

ON THE MENEWE:

Cranberry Salad

The night before serving: grind or chop cranberries. Add sugar; stir and refrigerate.

The next morning: drain cranberry mixture. Add sliced grapes, Cool Whip and pecans. Stir together and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

Many years ago, in my younger days when I had more patience, I taught preschool for 3 and 4 year olds for a couple years. The church I attended had one three mornings a week, which gave mommy's about three hours to do grocery shopping and run errands. We would do a Thanksgiving program for the parents each year. One year we had the kids dress up like pilgrims, turkeys, and indians and they acted out a story as we read it. This was a very low budget production and the turkeys wore a trash-bag stuffed with newspaper as part of their costume. They had practiced the play a few times, but didn't actually wear their costumes until the day of the program. One of the little boys was a turkey and when we got him dressed up in his trash-bag and tried to send him out with the other kids to perform, he absolutely started boo-hooing and was inconsolable. We tried bribery and various tactics and he was having no part of it! He finally did stand up front with the other kids, but cried during the entire story. Afterwards we found out from his mother that he hated wearing costumes and dressing up. The other teacher and I both felt really bad for making the poor kid dress up in a trash-bag! Had we known, we would have given him another part where he only had to wear a headband or something simple. We thought he was just nervous about standing in front of the parents!

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever. Psalms 107:1

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org