Monday, November 12, 2012
What does Thanksgiving mean to you?
Can you believe that Thanksgiving is coming up next week? Wow - next week?!? As I was flipping through the channel guide on our TV, I was stunned to see that Lifetime is already showing Christmas movies. WLIT FM Chicago is already playing Christmas music. The stores are already filled to the rafters with Christmas decor, sales, and a whole bunch of new candy is on the shelves. It's not even Thanksgiving! We just had Halloween. Whew! No time to breath or blink - or go to the dentist.
I love Thanksgiving. I find it a perfect time to give thanks for the harvest in our lives, as well as the hard times that God has walked through with us. It's a time to reflect, reach out, or realize the blessings.
One simple question today. What does Thanksgiving mean to you?
Stay tuned next Monday, as my guest will be the lovely author, Stacy Henrie. We'll be talking about her beautifully written book, Lady Outlaw, and what we are thankful for.
On Monday, November 26th, I will have my Seymour Agency sister, Jen Turano, here for a visit. Her debut novel, A Change of Fortune, is a spectacular release from Bethany House.
If you don't know these wonderful authors, you should. And if you do know them, stop by and say, "howdy". There will be great conversation and giveaways!
Between you, me and the gatepost,
Loree
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21 comments:
Being from Canada, our Thanksgiving was last month. I love having a special day to reflect on all the good things God has blessed us with. Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for your friendship :)
For me, Thanksgiving means family, faith, and a lot of good food. It has managed to remain a time to reflect on all the blessings in our lives. Thanks for your friendship, Loree. Great post!
Thanksgiving is important, I know, but the actual date isn't too big to me probably because growing up it wasn't a festive day. So I don't have that emotional attachment to it.
Still, I like the holiday itself. The food is good and I enjoy seeing relatives who I haven't seen in a while. :-)
I feel a little bad for Thanksgiving. It gets lost in the rush between Halloween and Christmas. I often get so into the food and the football and the parade, that I forget to just sit and bask in the blessings I've been given. But I have been given so much. So much. And this year, I want to be more intentional about thanking God for those blessings.
I'm a Thanksgiving fan, so I get a little irritated when I go to the store and see all the Christmas merchandise up, even before Halloween is over. It reminds me that for the retail world, Christmas is all about the money. So I boycott the Christmas stuff until the day after Thanksgiving! :) For me, Thanksgiving is all about being grateful to God for the abundant blessings in my life - and reminding my children where our blessings come from. We are not entitled to them, they are a gift from God.
My favorite parts of Thanksgiving are family, the parade, and getting to put up the Christmas tree.
Thanksgiving, to me, is a time to reflect and spend time with family. Counting our blessings, is an important part of it too, but I'm aiming to be thankful every day, no matter what time of year.
Looks like you have some great things lined up! :)
Sandra: Happy Thanksgiving to you, Sandra. I'm so happy for your friendship also! It means a lot!
Victoria: Faith, family, and food...great list! I'm happy to call you a friend, Victoria!
Jessica: The traditional foods are one of the best parts of the day!
Lindsay: What wonderful thoughts, Lindsay. We must remember to bask in the blessings - as you put it.
Gabrielle: I hear you talking, Gabrielle. I cannot believe how fast they put out the Christmas stuff in the stores. Same candy - different holiday packaging. We can't enjoy the holiday season we are in anymore. I love what you said about being grateful and reminding our children where blessing come from...great thoughts.
Julie: I love the Macy's parade!
Karen: Reflection and family = great day. You are right, we need to be thankful no matter what day it is.
Thank you all for stopping by! Love your comments!
When I was younger, Thanksgiving was just another day off from school and a chance to eat too much. Now that I'm older, the holiday is a reminder for me to stop and thank God for the blessings in my life. I used to take many things for granted.
We have a motto in our family: "There's always room for one more."
Because we were a military family for many years, we were often away from relatives for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and so holiday meals were celebrated with others like us--people who were separated from family.
We continue that tradition today, asking out now adult kids, "Do you know of anyone who needs a place to spend Thanksgiving?"
For us, Thanksgiving means "more than us."
And it's so fun to see who ends up sitting around our table ... such a blessing.
Thanksgiving is becoming a way of life for me. To say it's been transformational is an understatement. It's wonderful to have one day a year to turn our thoughts that way. It's AWESOME to find that it came become a state of being. All year round. :)
Brandi: I think when we are young, we do take things for granted sometimes. It's a great to have a day to remind us of God's blessings.
Beth: I love your meaning - Thanksgiving means "more than us." How perfect! Such an awesome way to think about it.
Rhonda: How wonderful to have Thanksgiving all 365! "A state of being" We should all think like that...
Thanks for popping in everyone! Such great thoughts...
I saw that Christmas shows were on as well, and Starbucks is already pushing the Gingerbread Latte~ it seems like the Pumpkin Spice Latte just showed up a few weeks ago...time does fly.
Thanksgiving holds a different kind of feeling since last year. My brother-in-law and sister drove to meet our group of families for the holiday and he was rushed to the hospital the Monday after. He died the next day, leaving my sister a widow at 34 with two girls. That's why I'm going to spend some time with her over the holiday and a couple of weeks after. It's a time to be thankful that we had him in our lives, but it's going to be a hard time too. We didn't even take any group photos or photos of the different families last year. I guess we we didn't think it was that important at the time, but it was a point of regret later.
I'm still in denial that Thanksgiving is next week! :) For me it's that reminder of gratitude, family dinners and putting up my Christmas decorations.
Jess: I remember this... Oh, my heart aches for your sister and family. You are such a wonderful sib. I know you've gone to stay with her several times now, helping with the girls. It is a time to be thankful you had him in your lives - no matter how short the time was. It will be hard, but he is always right there in your hearts and memories - photos or not. I will keep you and your sister in my prayers. Hugs to you.
Stacy: The holidays have crept up on us. Unbelievable. Looking forward to your guest appearance on my blog next week.
Jess and Stacy, thanks for stopping by.
You're so right, Loree. Thanksgiving seems to get scrunched more and more each year. This year will be special because my son's birthday is coming up. I remember spending Thanksgiving day in the hospital after he was born, so I'm sure those memories will be fresh.
Wow, what a great question, Loree.
Thanksgiving means focusing on God's blessings and acknowledging that He is behind all the goodness in the universe. We also get a four-day weekend from work--yippeee!
Thanks for asking!
Jen
Sarah: My niece was born on Thanksgiving Day. My sister in law ate 2 dinners and went into labor. Happy Birthday to your boy! It will be a special holiday for all of you! Cherish the memories.
Jeanette: I always love when you stop in! You always hit the nail right on the head! Great comments!
Sarah and Jeanette, thanks for dropping by. Love reading your comments!
We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia, but I do enjoy reading about it on all the blogs. It's good to stop and think about all the things we are thankful for. I need to do that more often.
Hi Loree,
Thanksgiving means looking at all the blessings God has given me and saying, "thank You," to Him. I never want to take my relationship with the Lord for granted.
Blessings,
Susan :)
Lynda: Love this. You made me realize that we don't really need a holiday to be thankful. We just need to stop and think about it...any day of the year.
Susan: Amen, Susan! Wonderful thought about never taking our relationship with the Lord for granted.
Lynda and Susan, thanks for stopping in. Your comments mean a lot!
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