Thanksgiving II

Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! Psalm 107:8

Years before Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863, turkey was on the menu. William Bradford (1590-1657) noted that there was a great store of wild turkeys used during that “First Thanksgiving” in 1621. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) thought so highly of this bird that he wanted to make it the national symbol. However, there were enough people who disagreed, and the bald eagle won that recognition in 1782.

Turkeys are a rather appealing bird, both visually and on the dinner table. Pictured above are four male turkeys displaying their colors in front of a hen. She was behind the trees as I captured this photo. I wrote about the life history of the wild turkey in another post (see Springtime in the Mountains II ).

A few weeks ago I was searching for a notebook to take to a writer’s conference. Seems I like to scatter notebooks around the house so that I might, just maybe, be able to find one when I need it.

It still took a while.

After finally stumbling upon one, I flipped it open to find a section of empty pages. I came across something I’d written from Thanksgiving years ago. It started out as a simple list of things I was thankful for. I’d filled up a complete column on that page, then another column, then another. I’d gone on to a second page and did the same; three columns of thirty – forty lines each, all about things I was thankful for. Then on to more columns and pages.

At times I get so busy, important things fall by the wayside. Things like, as God tells us in the above Scripture, giving thanks to the Lord for His goodness. I’m glad I took time a few years ago to record hundreds of blessing God has so unselfishly given to me – people, experiences, places, pets, etc. – for which I was thankful. It is a good thing for me to do, and I have repeated this endeavor more than once.

Give it a try, and I think you’ll be amazed.

Now, if I could just find where I put that notebook…

In these times of uncertainty, I hope you have called upon the One Who cares more for you than I can put into words. If you’ve never gotten right with the Creator of all things, I encourage you to check out what He says about His love for you.  See Got God?

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving.