Gtcotr/ss112424
The only thing God ever wanted to be was a Father. God loves family.
For centuries families existed only on what they could harvest and naturally preserve from the woods and fields within walking distance from their homes. From creation, over 6,000 years of recorded history to about 100 years ago, each winter claimed lives in mass from nothing more than the cold which made it impossible to grow or forage for food.
If a family or a community had a good harvest and had a supply of salt to rub on meat or got ahead and made enough of dried beans, corn, or jerky to last through the winter, they considered themselves very fortunate. Life depended on it. All they had to do was to keep it safe from critters and thieves, and both were an everyday challenge.
In September, in the year of our Lord 1620, a group calling themselves Pilgrims sailed from England and 65 days later landed at Cape Cod in New England towards the end of November. Together, under the Mayflower Compact, they established Plymouth Colony and set about forming what American tradition holds as the first permanent settlement in the Americas. They were tough and determined but woefully unprepared for the harsh winter of 1620/21.
By March 1621, with little food and less adequate shelter, more than half of those 102 passengers, along with about half of the Mayflower crew, had died. There wasn’t a family who had not suffered the loss of a loved one and yet they felt chosen by God to carry on. Deeply committed to their faith and to the principles of God’s Word, the Pilgrims welcomed the Spring of 1621 as their opportunity for a new day.
The remaining colonists formed a relationship with the neighboring Wampanoag Tribe of Native American Indians, who taught them how to survive by fishing, planting and hunting. By the autumn of 1621 the Pilgrims had collected and preserved enough food to last them through the next winter.
In the fall of 1621 Governor William Bradford declared a time of Thanksgiving. The Indians and the Pilgrims joined together for a 3-day celebration in honor of their bountiful harvest. The Wampanoag’s supplied the venison while the colonists provided wild birds, most likely including roast turkey, goose and swan, along with corn and lobster for the feast.
This is considered to have been the first Thanksgiving in America. Year after year many other colonies concluded the harvest season with a festival in celebration and thanksgiving to God for His bountiful supply.
In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation declaring the last Thursday of November as our nation’s annual Thanksgiving Day. The rest is history … as will be the Approximately 1,400,000 turkeys which will be consumed on Thanksgiving Day this year in the US.
According to one source, (https://financebuzz.com/thanksgiving-data):
The Pilgrims could not have foreseen the positive impact they would have on our lives in America and around the world today. No matter where I and my family have lived around the world, from Asia to Europe, we have always kept Thanksgiving Day in memory and respect of how much God has blessed us.Life in America has not been without hardships and challenges but overall, life here is better than life anywhere else in the world.
That’s evidently how the Pilgrims felt too. History records that even in spite of all the difficulties and disappointments they faced, one of the Pilgrims, William Brewster, who was the most educated man among the colonists and the senior ruling elder of Plymouth Colony until his death in April of 1644, encouraged the others by leading them in a song. The song came straight from the Psalms.
Can you imagine standing on the deck of the Mayflower at Plymouth, Massachusetts in late November, early December, after more than 2 months crossing the Atlantic in rough seas, with 102 Pilgrims and 30 to 40 crew members, destined for a winter that would claim the lives of more than half of those present? It was in that cold and lonely moment of life that William Brewster lifted his voice, and others began to sing along with faith and thanksgiving for what God had done and all He would yet do, despite the perils at hand. He began to sing this song:
“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD …”
Psalms 100
1 ¶ Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all you lands!
2 Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.
3 Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.
If they had only known … what a smile it would have brought to their faces and strength to their next steps. But they didn’t know, yet they got off of the boat anyway and with faith for the future, some waded to shore in the cold waters ready for whatever the opportunity afforded.
Today, We don’t know the future, but we know Almighty God. The LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And enter His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, and serve Him with gladness.
God loves you and God loves your family. He has a plan for your life. Go forward in faith and embrace every challenge as an opportunity to please Him and leave things and others better than you found them.
Happy Thanksgiving week!