43 thoughts on “HAPPY THANKSGIVING!”

  1. Man, that headline lettering is HUGE.

    I’m thankful for my family. They are the best, especially my wife Cheryl.

    And I’m thankful to God for my salvation, and that of my family.

    I’m also thankful to Him for the many blessings He has given us, which are too numerous to list.

    Thank You Lord!

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  2. I’m thankful for my salvation and that the Lord has led me through to make the right decision in all the critical turning points in my life.

    I failed my first physical for the Air Force because I was underweight. The man told me to go home, eat some bananas and come back in two weeks.
    I passed.
    I failed my first flight physical. Same thing.
    I had decided to make the Air Force a career. But congress passed the Korean GI bill.
    I’m thankful that Willanel Whitmore got me a job at Parker Labs.
    I’m thankful that I met Al Tolley at USC.
    I’m thankful that I decided, for some unknown reason, to sit in the balcony of FBC Columbia that Sunday morning in October 1955.
    I’m thankful that I decided to go into the ministry, though nothing came of it. I changed my major from civil engineering to psychology.
    I’m thankful that Elvera bought that house trailer before we married.
    I’m thankful that I was driving down Berry St. in Fort Worth that Sunday evening.

    This could go on for pages. That only covers the first 27 years of an eventful life. Only in retrospect do I see tha hand of God leading me “this way”. I still depend on it.
    Not counting the “small things”, like Elvera said, “I’m thankful I’m sitting in this warm house this morning.” I don’t count those anymore, but there was a time when it wasn’t a “warm house”.

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  3. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

    I’m soooo thankful for all of my family! And especially my dear husband and sons; they are truly the lights of my life, and the blessing for which I can never thank God enough.

    I’m thankful for this country I have been born into–like a great blessing that I was just dropped into through no merit of my own whatsoever. I’m grateful that God has brought the wanderers, the curious, the seekers here to this place—and thrown us all together in what is surely a Grand Design…or at least a fit of Divine humor.

    I’m thankful for all of the people whose lives have touched mine, both face to face and through technology. For all of these relationships are not just the spice of life, they are life. Thanks AJ for making this little corner of it possible.

    :–)

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  6. Happy Thanksgiving

    I’m thankful for having the opportunities to live freely and contribute in small ways to try to help improve conditions for people.

    I’m thankful for my partner, friends, family.

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  7. Happy Thanksgiving;
    I am thankful for Christ, who died in my place.
    I am thankful for my church where I can worship and be fed from the word of God.
    I am thankful for my beautiful bride of 35 years.
    I am thankful for my children who love us and have worked hard in this struggling economy to still survive and be better citizens.
    I am thankful to have been born in America where for now we still have freedom of conscience.
    I am thankful for my employer who has supported me during the last three years of being separated from my bride.

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  8. Happy Thanksgiving to all,

    I am thankful for:

    the Lord and His blessing

    my goodwife, Barbara, our three children, and eight grandchildren

    America, despite all its grievous faults, the most religious modern nation and still a great hope for mankind

    just now having the pleasure of reading Os Guinness’s profound book, The Case for Civility.

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  9. Why, all of you, of course. (that should be said in the deepest southern drawl you can imagine)

    This year I am thankful that God sent a good man into my life.
    I am thankful for the safe delivery of a healthy little boy named Silas Gabriel. (I am also praying they call him Gabe).
    And even though she is of the age to drive me CRAZY, about this time 16 years ago I was about to give up on ever becoming a mother. I wasn’t in a very grateful mood, but God does answer prayer and by Christmas I was pregnant. She IS what I never knew I always wanted.

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  11. I am thankful for all the obvious stuff,my Salvation, my country, my Husband, Mama, brothers and their families, the years I had with my Daddy, sister and grandparents. And I am thankful that 9 1/2 years ago a woman in a crisis pregnancy didn’t take the easy way out and choose to give her child life. He has been my life ever since.

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  14. We had our Thanksgiving with my dad and brothers last month. Tomorrow it will be with one of our children’s bio sister and the guy who took him in when he was booted from his last adoption and the neighbors. We believe in being very thankful.

    And, in case you are wondering, we are thankful to God. The God Who always has been and always will be. The God Who created us and saved us and desires to spend eternity with us. The God Who is active in our lives and in our nation and in our world.

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  15. 🙂 The house is almost ready. Cleaner that it’s been since last year this time.
    Not exactly true, different rooms have gotten it at different times. But now it’s like a Jewish house at Passover. Except we have a lot of leavened stuff around. (I’m eating some now. 🙂 )
    Cleaning glass reminded me of something I heard, or an illustration I’ve used.
    You can clean glass until it’s spotless. Then, the sun shines at a single angle and it looks terrible. And you can’t fix it, more swiping only leaves more streaks.
    No way to get it perfect. Like my life.

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  17. I’m thankful our sons can make it home for this holiday.

    I’m thankful for a thoughtful and frugal wife.

    I’m thankful for our material blessings – all paid for – a house, cars, shop full of tools.

    I’m thankful for gainful employment (even if it’s sometimes stressful).

    I’m thankful that God loves and forgives even though we’re fallen and sinful.

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  20. Ha, I am thankful for Kim and how her year reminds me how fast our lives can change! Remember that Kim when BG is soooo being 16 😉

    I am thankful that Jesus found me when I was in high school. And very grateful that He privleged me with such a great husband and father to my seven kids. I always tell people when the ask–and they do ask–why I had seven that my husband was born to be a father.

    I am thankful that 20 years ago today, my son Jeremy was born into this world because he wants to change this world by bringing in the kingdom now. And he works on this project not only here in CA but in Egypt with a remarkable passion.

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  21. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I am thankful for all the obvious things my salvation, friends and family, but I’m also thankful for the connections that God makes in our lives with total strangers. I am still amazed that contact with Phos here on a blog resulted in her coming here to The Gambia for a year. God does some really fun things in our lives if we just open our eyes to what he’s doing!

    I am extremely thankful for a Christian family and that my father is still alive. When your father is 85 years old every day is a gift not to be taken for granted. I thought I was going to lose him this year, but God graciously had other plans for him.

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  23. I am thankful that God has mercy on whom he will have mercy, and that he had mercy on me 27 years ago Saturday.

    I am thankful for the wife of 30 1/2 years who is a constant reminder of God’s forgiveness, since she has had to practice it a lot more than I have.

    I am thankful for the four children the Lord gave us.

    I am thankful that God has had mercy on three of them and that they are going on for the Lord. God saved them in spite of the not-so-perfect example they had.

    I am thankful that the youngest, though not yet a believer, is not a rebellious teenager, but a kind, thoughtful 18 year old.

    I am thankful for two (soon to be three) grandchildren. It has been fun this morning enjoying them. I went for a walk with them in the cool fall breeze, the two year old chattering most of the way about what we passed, and the one year old chattering in his own little language.

    And I am thankful for a nation that still has a day set aside for thanking our God, even though most people don’t realize the meaning of the day. It is my favorite holiday, since it has not been over-commercialized. Except for the Macy’s parade that is more about Christmas and commercialism, the day has not been spoiled until recently. Unfortunately, the Madison Avenue moguls have decided this would be a great shopping day, tearing teh family apart even more than it already has.

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  24. Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful for being alive and reasonably healthy at 68 and perhaps still sane, but how can I tell? I am thankful Saturday will mark 47 years of marriage to a wonderful wife who still puts up with me. In 15 minutes we are heading to Seattle to celebrate Thanksgiving with two mommies and two daddies and one very artistically talented eight-year-old granddaughter and hordes of grandparents.

    I am thankful that my flock of atheists on Whidbey Island now numbers about 30 people who also understand that one can be thankful without being thankful to an imaginary God.

    It won’t happen in my life, but I am thankful that the day will come when humans realize we are on our own in a universe that does not care a bit about us and we have to make the best life we can in the short life we have.

    Bye.

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  26. Ricky: I hope Random realizes that before he sees God face to face. There will be no mercy then, only justice. I think of Psalm 14 when people like Random show up here and espouse their (lack of) beliefs.

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  27. It is good of Random to show up here so we all can be reminded that we are Image bearers. It is difficult to be thankful to the lifeless, careless, unplanned happenings of the God free “how we got here” plan. And yet, people who insist on thinking that way have a hard time not being thankful. Because we are made to worship Him and to be grateful for His blessings.

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  28. According to our pastor at today’s wonderful service, when asked around the table what we’re thankful for, we should enliven the conversation by saying, “I’m thankful I didn’t get caught.”

    🙂

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  29. I’ve been thankful all year that God in his mercy has blessed our family with a stable year, the kids all doing well, the adorable grandchildren added in number (four!) and 35 years of marriage to a terrific man who has enriched my life in ways innumerable.

    God is good.

    Thankful, too, for friends across the miles and cyberspace who encourage me, make me laugh and give me PLENTY to think about!

    Off to get my dip ready . . . ! 🙂

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  32. Essentially, Randon is among the lost modern souls who has come to worship nothing or nihilism. He has wandered onto a Christian blog whose folk care for him, though he ridiculously attempts to convert them to the forlorn secular religion of nihilism. Good luck to him. In truth, as Peter L. suggests, this fellow is whistling past the graveyard.

    It is rather hard to imagine some poor soul coming on to a Christian blog-site preaching secular fundamentalism.

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  33. Seeing the live tweets just now from my colleague (who volunteered for Thanksgiving — she’s waiting outside the Walmart for the big 8 p.m. “doorbuster” sale), I’m very thankful I’m not working on this particular holiday this year. 🙂

    Good turkey dinner, fun conversation. But I’m still full even though I ate hours ago.

    😦 Too stuffed.

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  34. I’m thankful to my Creator and Savior, for mercy and grace and for the great beauty of His creation.

    I’m thankful for my family, including my wonderful husband, the kids (including the college-daughter-who-couldn’t-come-home-for-Thanksgiving who surprised us by showing up at the door yesterday morning!), my siblings, my nieces and nephews, and my in-laws.

    I’m thankful for good health, a good home, a great church, and such temporal blessings of a nice library and a good dog.

    And that, now that I’m married, I no longer have the “what will I do for this holiday?” issue several times a year.

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  36. I am thankful for all of you here, a diverse, inspiring and encouraging bunch who always get me thinking! Thank you, AJ, for providing this forum. It is a blessing to gather here.

    A few more of the many things for which I am thankful:

    My Savior Jesus, who died for my sins. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16.

    My loving husband, whose first words to me this morning were, “Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful for you.” Thank you, Lord, for a husband who willingly overlooks my faults.

    Six delightful children around the dinner table with us today. Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of the mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. Psalm 127:3-5a

    Eight pairs of folded hands, ready to receive a bountiful feast from the Lord; a husband asking, “Ready to pray?”; a momentary pause, then the voice of 5th Arrow, in the tiniest whisper: “Yeah”; and a little joyful chuckle from 4th Arrow. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of prayer, and for children who love and enjoy their siblings.

    Satisfied tummies and a full refrigerator. Thank you, Lord, for daily bread and so much more.

    Six children walking in Truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 3 John 4.

    But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

    Happy Thanksgiving, friends.

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  38. I’m thankful for family, friends, family, church, healthy, job, and for salvation and all it includes – hope, peace, forgiveness, love.

    And I’m working at being thankful for things that aren’t going so well but remind me to look for contentment in belonging to God and being able to serve Him, rather than in things going well and in how I feel.

    I’m also thankful that I felt well enough today to cook Thanksgiving dinner (a relatively small one since there are only three of us here to eat it) and enjoy it. The acid reflux is unpleasant but no longer causing nausea (the doctor had me start taking the medicine twice a day). And while we’re still finding fleas (two on the dog last night, one on me while I was reading but it was too fast for me to catch it), I haven’t found any in bed lately.

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  39. I am thankful that my SIL and BIL decided to come to dinner. They weren’t going to come, because my mother-in-law (MIL) died two weeks ago. But, they did, and we had a good time.

    I am thankful that my experimental dinner turned out pretty darn good. 😉 I made low-carb, gluten-free everything, and — some of it we liked BETTER (like the cauliflower “potatoes”) and most of it we liked just as well. 🙂

    I have a few “tweaks” for the future, but I was really pleased. Cooking has never been my strong suit, but I’ve gotten better over the years, and my brother-in-law (BIL) told me that it was so good that I ought to open a restaurant. 😉

    That was nice. I rarely get compliments like that in my family (I have another SIL and a friend who both think they are the best cooks EVER, and so they always seem to wrinkle their noses at what I do. 😦 So, it is really nice to be appreciated.)

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  41. Oh … and my sister’s husband. His second job choice (which he did not pursue) was to be a chef. So, he too tends to wrinkle his nose at whatever I do too, even though my parents and my immediate family actually prefer my cooking to his.

    I guess I just wonder why it has to be a zero-sum game, though? In other words, can’t they enjoy my cooking and STILL like their own cooking?

    But, somehow, admitting that I do a nice job, ruins it for *them.*

    So, I’m very grateful that I got to celebrate today with people who enjoyed the meal I made!! 🙂

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  42. Wow! Mim, it is the rare American who gets TOO MUCH fiber! 🙂 But, I can certainly understand how that could be … uncomfortable. Glad you figured it out!

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  43. Thanks for all the encouraging comments. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at our daughter and daughter-out-of-law’s house. Several other grandparents (including a Methodist Minister who will likely marry the mommies one of these days), one of the daddies, and, of course, the 8-year-old granddaughter, who has finally learned how to behave herself at the dinner table.

    We came home, mellow and very full. I went to check the chickens. They are behind a locked gate, mesh all around and above, and an electric fence. I looked in the coop. Although we own five hens (three gray and tw black), I only counted four on the roost. I began to search the chicken run using a lantern. After a while, I found in a corner a ripped carcase of the other black hen. We have lots of predators, though the various protections usually keep the hens safe. A couple of months ago a small chicken hawks had penetrated the mesh from above and attacked one hen, though she was not seriously injured. This time, something got through and savagely ripped the hen apart?

    In the morning, when there is light, I will check to see if the other hens are still alive. Their one small door that they go in to put themself to be is now closed. Then I will look for clues, such as blood trail. Then I will bury the dead hen, check the electric fence, look for any obvious weaknesses, and let out the survivors (if any) and see if any have wounds.

    Be careful out there.

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