Who are you Thanking?

I have been observing all of the activity and planning that surrounds Thanksgiving. Families are working on getting together, planning who is preparing what and if travel arrangements are an issue, who is picking up at the airport and what time. Busy, busy, busy and them more busy.

Thanksgiving is one of the happiest holidays of the year as families get together to enjoy some family time together. If distance is a factor, this may be the only time some families even get together to reconnect and find out what has been happening over the year. It is definitely a time of excitement.

There are those exceptions. More people die on Thanksgiving day from heart attack than any other day of the year. They eat too much, put too great a load on their heart and it attacks them. I have two grandparents that died around this time of year.

Let's get back to more pleasant things. Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time to be thankful. I saw a question on the Internet about what are you thankful for. While that is a very good and important question to ask, I would like to submit that we also need to remember who it is we are thanking. Today, many people have forgotten the original history and purpose of Thanksgiving. Today, many people don't even think of thanking anyone, but just want to get together with family, eat too much and watch a football game. They have lost total sight as to what Thanksgiving is about.

A lot of people will think of being thankful to and for family and friends and special things that have happened to them over the past year, especially the past few weeks and days. However, way to many people don't consider (or care) about the real purpose behind Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving has always been a day to thank God for all of His blessings. Our harvest, family, health, freedom and much more are because God has been working in our lives to provide for us.

This is over simplified and warrants further research, but here is a sketch to the history of Thanksgiving.

When the Pilgrims first came to what is now the United States of America, their life was very hard. Many had died on the ship on the way over, only to be buried at sea. After they arrived, they had to clear land, build homes and plant crops before they could have food to sustain them. Cold, lack of food and other hardships took many more lives. Those who did survive were eventually able to build a colony that would sustain them. They made friendships with the local indian tribes and learned from each other about how to live together in harmony in this new settlement.

When the fall came, some of the early settlers realized the importance of thanking God for blessing them with an abundant harvest. The natives and the settlers got together to thank God for helping them.

Years later, our government established Thanksgiving to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November every year to thank God for His blessings.

So back to my question - Who are you going to thank? Hopefully, you will choose to say "Thank You God for..."

God bless you and have a thankful Thanksgiving!