Blessed Thanksgiving

Why Do You Like Thanksgiving? by Site Admin

By Carey Kinsolving

On Thanksgiving Day, families all over America sit down to dinner at the same time — halftime.

“Thanksgiving has two good words,” says Hollie, age 9. “They are ‘thanks’ and ‘giving,’ and that’s what we need to do — thank others and be giving. Those are two things my mom taught me.”

Hollie, your mom has taught you well. Gratitude is one of the most important lessons parents can teach their children.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life,” writes Melody Beattie. “It turns what we have into enough, and more. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

Adrienne, 9, is fortunate to have a father who’s not ashamed to offer thanks to God: “I like when my dad prays before we eat. I don’t know why, but I just do.”

Tori, 6, is already following the example of godly parents: “I like Thanksgiving because I get to eat chicken, and my mama is with me, and my daddy is with me. I get to see my cousins. I get to be with God because I say the blessings.”

Tori, you might have the wrong bird, but you’ve definitely got the right spirit and company.

You have a kindred spirit in Ally, 11: “I like Thanksgiving because it is good to thank God. He gives us so many blessings that we don’t even realize. It’s the least we can do to give him one whole day of thanks, but we should be giving thanks daily.”

Robert, 8, goes even further: “I can give thanks when I broke my finger and that it didn’t get cut off. I can give thanks when my dad got shot four times and that he didn’t die.”

Wait a minute! How could anybody find a bright side to a broken finger or gunshot wounds?

This kind of worldview sees all circumstances as divine tapestry. Faith in God’s sovereignty and goodness transports the believer into a realm where giving thanks in everything is as normal as breathing. This doesn’t mean that everything we encounter is good, but rather that God’s goodness and power will work it out for his purpose and our benefit.

Why, then, do we complain instead of giving thanks?

“Pride slays thanksgiving, but an humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow,” wrote 19th century minister Henry Ward Beecher. “A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.”

Kimberly, 8, is an example of someone who is grateful even in the midst of great loss: “My grandmother died of a heart attack, and it was hard to thank the Lord for that. I was very close to my grandmother. I saw her almost every day. But now, she doesn’t have any more pain, and she is in heaven.”

Think about this: Even though we sorrow over the loss of loved ones, not even death can make spiritual Christians ungrateful. The Lord Jesus absorbed death’s sting when he offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Faith alone in Christ alone guarantees everlasting life.

Memorize this truth: “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (I Thessalonians 5:18)

Ask this question: Can you give thanks for everything?

Carey Kinsolving is a syndicated columnist, producer, author, speaker and website developer. To see more material like this, visit href="http://www.KidsTalkAboutGod.org">http://www.KidsTalkAboutGod.org. The Kids Talk About God website contains free, online content for children and families. See Carey’s Kid TV Interviews. Print free lessons from the “Kids Color Me Bible” and make your own book. Let an 11-year-old girl take you on a trip around the world in the Mission Explorers Streaming Video. Print Scripture verses illustrated by child artists. Receive a complimentary, weekly e-mail subscription to our Devotional Bible Lessons.

Bible quotations in this Bible lesson are from the New King James Version.

Copyright 2006 Carey Kinsolving

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Why Do You Like Thanksgiving?

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On Thanksgiving – Thank God for our Soldiers by Site Admin

by Rev. Michael Bresciani

Not many people reading this article will remember the old television serial called “I Remember Mamma” and certainly almost none of the young men and women of our present day armed forces will remember it. I shudder when I think of how old I am getting, because I do remember it very well. “I Remember Mamma” was a TV series on every week about a Swedish family that came to America to start a new life away from the old country. Each episode was a perfect picture of what life was like for a family of immigrants in the new land of opportunity.

It was a typical family of four with mother, father and sister and brother. One unforgettable episode was when the young man of the family decided to join the army because the war had broken out and he wanted to serve his new country. The folks and the sister were devastated by his choice to go, but they seemed to adapt to the idea if only to support his decision although not fully agreeing with it. You could feel the sadness on that family as the young man slept in his bed for the last night. I cried so deeply when his mother came in to give him a good night kiss, perhaps his last. I became so emotionally caught up with the story that I could hardly sleep at all that night.

I knew nothing about war even though my buddies and I often put a nail in a stick for a trigger and played GI Joe with each other. All I was sure of was, that as a soldier someone was very likely to be shooting at you at some time. What I found hard to grasp was, why anyone would put themselves in such a situation of their own free will. I can’t say I have ever found a sufficient answer to that question but after more than six decades to ponder it, the question has been rewarded with some surprising and perplexing answers.

One of the answers is that some people really believe that the freedom we enjoy here in America is worth fighting to keep and if possible to share with others. Some of them believe that oppression and injustice should not be allowed to prevail unchecked anywhere in the world, not just here at home. I have heard all the comments about how a soldier is only thinking about saving his own life once the bullets start flying but they have been mostly neutralized by the stories of uncommon heroism on our country’s battlefields. There are countless stories of men and women who have risked and in some cases lost their lives while protecting the lives of others around them in their units. For me one story would be enough to prove that not all men are thinking of themselves even after the bullets are flying.

Some young folks still join our armed services for lesser reasons. Perhaps they are enticed by the chance to go to college at the expense of Uncle Sam. In some cases they may just be in that place where they simply don’t know what else to do with their lives. These reasons may not seem as noble as those of the young people who signed up after 9/11 but they are still legitimate reasons and they are not open to any ones critical judgment. Certainly all of those who joined for any reason had a moment when they reflected and faced the possibility that they could be thrust into a battle at any given time. They had to deal with that question but for everyone who signed on the dotted line the question did not deter them, this in itself is a form of bravery.

Soldiers once lined up by the thousands willing to fight against one of the world’s greatest despots, Adolph Hitler. No doubt there are those in Iraq today who see Saddam Hussein and his Bathist party members as something akin to Hitler. Still others in Afghanistan are still hoping to corral one of the worst terrorists of all time, Osama Bin Laden. Should we not liken their devotion to accomplishing these goals to those who fought in other wars? In today’s all volunteer army we have no other choice.

To offer the soldiers in the present conflicts any less than our complete support and gratitude is not only to dishonor them but it equally dishonors every brave soldier who gave their all in the past wars and battles of our nation. We may brag a bit about how well our soldiers are equipped and trained but we must never forget that they also are guided by certain beliefs and principles that are shared in our land by almost everyone. This then, is their purpose and it must be appreciated and respected or we are all fools indeed. They represent us in that purpose and anything less than our full support is to betray them and in my humble opinion is akin to treason.

This thanksgiving season among the other things I will be thankful for is our soldiers. They still give me a sense of awe like the night I cried in my bed trying to understand the young Swedish boy in the “I Remember Mama” series who decided to go and risk life and limb for his newly adopted country, the USA. I will pray that they all come home safely and if any do not, I will always have a home for them in my heart as will millions of other grateful Americans. Thank God for our soldiers this thanksgiving day.

Rev Bresciani is the author of two books; one is on the second coming of Christ. He has many articles published both online and in print. Visit the website at www.americanprophet.org

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Top Tips For Good Nutrition This Thanksgiving by Site Admin

by Dave Saunders

To many, good nutrition and thanksgiving dinner seem to cancel each other out. However it should be possible and even easy to make a nutritious meal that is a pleasure to share with friends and family. Here are a few tips to help you make your holiday meals healthy ones too.

Prepare a wide variety of foods. Traditional thanksgiving stories tell us of meals that contained wide varieties of dishes reflecting the backgrounds of the many people who came together for these meals and to give thanks. The nutritional benefit of eating from a wide variety of foods is you gain a wider variety of nutrients. Also, you are less likely to overload on a single type of food. If you don’t have time to prepare a large number of dishes, many grocery stores sell prepared dishes that you can add to the variety of dishes you’re cooking yourself. Gourmet grocery stores often prepare these dishes on site.

Try some simple recipes. Instead of making the obligatory green bean casserole with mushroom soup and fried onions, how about a simple green bean dish with a dash of sea salt? Substitute yams, cooked in butter with marshmallows and brown sugar, with a more simple preparation of yams. You may be surprised at how much people enjoy the taste of the original ingredients.

Be careful of portion sizes. An ideal meal is derived from all of the food groups and should include a wide variety of individual foods. Instead of loading up your plate with mashed potatoes, start with smaller portions of everything that has been prepared. If you would like a second helping, follow the same procedure. By eating from a wider variety of foods you will be providing your body with a more complex array of nutrients and you’ll be able to enjoy the many flavors as well.

Pace yourself. Unless you’re on call for surgery, you probably have a little time. Instead of jumping right into your second helping, consider a short intermission and burn some calories by helping out with the dishes. By eating more slowly, your body will give you signals when you are full. If there are leftovers you can always eat them later.

Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for all of the things that we have. It is a time for us to remember and reflect on the things that are important in our lives that we so often take for granted. The sharing of a meal with friends and family is a wonderful event and is cherished by nearly all cultures. So take pleasure in the eating and the sharing of food but also consider the nourishment that food gives you and be thankful and give honor to the abundance which you have to share.

Dave Saunders is a professional lecturer, and certified nutritional educator. This article can be found, with an audio edition, at http://www.glycoboy.com/nutrition-articles/111/top-tips-for-good-nutrition-this-thanksgiving/

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Woman Facing Infertility, Your Thanksgiving Matters! by Site Admin

by Veronica Anusionwu

Copyright 2006 The Lord Word On Healing Publications

There is a song that says, “Give thanks with a grateful heart. Give thanks to the holy one. Give thanks because he is given Jesus Christ his son!

And now let the weak say I am strong! Let the poor say I am rich! Because of what the Lord has done for us. Give thanks! Give thanks! Give thanks! Give thanks!

The Lord said to me today. “Tell my people, the time has now come for them to give me thanks. No matter what problems they are facing. So today I ask:

1. Are you facing Infertility? Still say “Praise the Lord!”

2. Have you Just had a miscarrage? Still say “Praise the Lord!”

3. Are you facing unexplained infertility? Still say “Praise the Lord!”

4. Did the ivf treatment Fail? Still say “Praise the Lord!”

5. Are your ovaries failing? Still say “Praise the Lord!”

6. Are you facing polycystic ovaries or ovarian cyst? Still say “Praise the Lord!”?

7. No matter the problem you should Still say “Praise the Lord!”

In the midst of a sick world, where there is so much pain and sorrow we must arm ourselves with thanksgiving.

The key to victory is thanksgiving. The bible says “Be joyful always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus- (I Thessalonians 5:16-18.)

God says we should give him thanks at all times. There are times in life when things can go wrong, look bad or even be nasty. Life can be hard at times and things can hurt us. At such times we are faced with a choice. We can choose to complain, murmur, grumble or praise God. If we choose the first three options we disobey God and extend our pain. If we choose praise we put a stop to pain and begin immediately to experience the peace of God in that situation.

The bible says ” And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. God’s peace cannot be bought. Once you begin to praise him that peace comes. The situation may still be there but peace will come to you to let you know God is on the case. That he is working it out for you.

You may ask me, Veronica why do I have to thank God when life looks so dark for me? I can’t see any reason why I should be thanking God.

All I can say is that I trust God’s word. If God says do it then I know it is something good to do. I have done this for many years.

And I can testify that it works. Looking back on my life, I can honestly say that at times of personal failure and extreme and prolonged hardship, I realize that it was always when there was a decided lack of praise in my life.

We need to be aware of the power of praise and thanksgiving. For it is the only remedy for weakness and anxiety. There is nothing like the force of faith and the power of praise and thanksgiving to fortify your soul in times of difficulty.

Let your mouth be full of thanksgiving to the Lord. God has given us so much in his son Jesus Christ that we must thank him at all times. God desires that we praise him and thank him at all times and in every situation.

The bible says in Psalms 50:23 “he who sacrifices thank offerings honours me and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.”

When you start to offer God a sacrifice of praise these are some of the benefits available to you.

Benefits of praise and thanksgiving

Praise unlocks the windows of Heaven.

Praise causes doubt to flee.

Praise brings down showers of blessings.

Praise brings redemption from destruction

Praise leads to forgiveness for all our sins

Praise brings healing of all diseases (Psalms 103:2-4)

Praise brings down the love and peace of God.

Praise brings freedom from bondage.

Praise changes every situation.

Praise establishes your heart in God and brings God into your circumstances.

Praise is the master key to God’s storehouse.

When you become established in praise, you will never know the impossible. For the worshipper knows no Impossibility. For he believes in a God who says, “For nothing is impossible with God.”

Let us practise a little bit of worship.

Today “I will praise you, O Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.

With joy I will draw water from the wells of salvation. Today I “Give thanks to the Lord. I call on his name. I make known among the nations what he has done. I proclaim that his name is exalted.

I will sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things for me. He has blessed me with a child of my own-(here you can say to the Lord what your need is ) let this be known to all the world.

I will Shout aloud and sing for joy. For great is the Love of the Lord toward me.

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify me through and through. May my whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God who is faithful to all his promises has heard my prayers and has honoured me. Thank you Lord. “Praise be to the Lord, who has given me rest from today. I bring all my worries to you and I receive your peace. I bless you because your word cannot fail me. Thank you again Lord. Amen.

Veronica Anusionwu has devoted a portion of her life to bringing spiritual solutions from the bible to help many people. She is the author of -Woman You Are Not Infertile, a book that has helped many women overcome infertility. Her book Who Said You Are Too Old To Conceive- covers all area of (Childbirth for the older woman). Sign up for her free weekly newsletter by visiting http://www.beautifulandpregnant.com/

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Thanksgiving Holiday Crafts:- Wonderful Decorations Kids Can Make by Site Admin

by Tri Bros Broda

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday! What a spiritual renewal to take a day to reflect over the past year about just how good God has been to you and your family, to give you harvest and shelter, health and hope. To get the most out of this joyous occasion, make some holiday crafts with your children. These days, Thanksgiving often gets squeezed out by Hallowe’en’s spooky decorations and the lights and gala of Christmas. With the following holiday crafts, your home can be decorated for this quieter but important celebration.

Turkeys are a natural choice for decorations. A familiar project at this time of year is for a child to trace around her hand and make the resulting drawing into a turkey. The thumb is the head and the fingers are the tail feathers all displayed. While many of the turkeys that are raised for food are now the domestic white variety, the turkeys eaten by the Pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving were the wild brown ones. The tail feathers on a wild turkey are brown, but they are iridescent. Catching light and appearing to be multi-colored. This is why children color the tail feathers in bright colors.

The turkey’s head has a wattle under the beak. This is a vertical flap of loose skin that is red colored. Be sure to draw this in order to make the hand turkey look like a turkey. Add skinny legs and bird feet. When done, the children can cut out the turkeys and hang them on the wall. It’s really cute to make a whole flock of these turkeys in the sizes of all the hands in the family. The little hand shapes are particularly sweet.

Another nice turkey decoration to make when making Thanksgiving holiday crafts is a turkey door decoration. Make a brown construction paper body and head of a turkey. Now make a large number of colored feather shapes. Each family member writes on a feather something he or she is thankful for before attaching as part of the turkey’s tail. Repeat until all the feathers are used, and hang the turkey on the front door to greet visitors with a message of gratitude. Make a sign to accompany the turkey that says “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good!” or simply “Be thankful!” or “We’re thankful for you!” or whatever you like.

Children love making construction paper chains. To further decorate the house for Thanksgiving, let them make a paper chain in fall colors as one of their holiday crafts. Using 9 by 12 inch construction paper, cut the paper in half across the long side and cut the halves into one inch thick six inch long strips. Use a stapler to attach the ends of the strip into a circle. Loop the next strip into the circle and staple it. Continue the process alternating colors of brown, red, yellow, and orange. When the chains are long, you can drap them along the ceiling or stair rail. If you don’t make the door turkey, the children can write something they’re thankful for on each strip of paper before adding it to the chain.

Thanksgiving is too nice a holiday to let the other more commercial holidays crowd it out. By making holiday crafts to decorate the home for Thanksgiving, you can keep this day special, too. The extended family, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc., will be pleased to see the holiday crafts the young ones have made to decorate the house and make it cheerful for their visit.

If you enjoy working with your hands, make arts and crafts as a hobby and would like to turn it into a business than “Craft Business Pack” or, “Craft & Assembly Jobs Package” will take you by the hand and walks you through the steps to earn money. For more information DOWNLOAD Your Copy of FREE “Work At Home Assembly Jobs Sample” guide.

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