Days of Thanksgiving

1 Timothy 4:4 – For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.

Growing up, Thanksgiving was a trifecta holiday. First, I loved all the food that was traditional to the day. My maternal Grandmother would usually cook a goose – not my favorite. My paternal Grandmother always baked a ham, sometimes made her world famous chicken and spaghetti and there was always the anticipation of her warm, home made cinnamon rolls with the thick, gooey frosting. My Mother was always in charge of the turkey with all the trimmings. True confession, it was usually my father who actually produced the turkey and the gravy. The Thanksgiving table was a smorgasbord of seasonal foods that for the most part came around once per year. Over-consumption was the rule. Tryptophan induced late afternoon naps were expected. Bundles of foil wrapped leftovers were stacked in the frig, waiting to be the target of someone’s midnight snack or next day cold turkey sandwich. Cold pumpkin pie was a perfect substitute for the Cocoa Krispies or Cream of Wheat we usually had for breakfast. Yes, Thanksgiving was all about the food.

The second thing Thanksgiving was for me – it was a gateway of sorts. When I went to school there was no “fall break.” School started the day after Labor Day and went straight through, five days a week, without a break until Thanksgiving weekend. Thanksgiving ushered in the holidays and the holidays meant time off from school. First, Thanksgiving weekend was a four day “holiday.” More importantly, the arrival of Thanksgiving weekend also signaled we only had about 3 weeks before Christmas and New Years break! Twelve glorious days of sleeping in. Of course reality would set in when depending on what day of the week January 1st was on, we were back in school a day or two after. That Christmas break was one of the things I missed most when I graduated college and went to work. What? No extended time off during Christmas and New Years? How was a guy supposed to catch up on his sleep?

The final leg of my Thanksgiving stool was the giving part. There were countless opportunities to give thanks by giving and my parents wanted me to know how important giving was to them. I looked forward to the canned food drives and putting together food baskets for people who needed them. In elementary school we would collect donated canned food, ask everyone to contribute 25 cents so we could buy some turkeys and then draw names of families to deliver the baskets to. Several parents would volunteer to drive us around while we delivered those baskets and the day would usually end with a cup of hot chocolate and a couple cookies. It really was the first time that I understood there were people who didn’t have what my family had and it felt so good to be able to help them. We would do the same thing through our church, through Boy Scouts and through my Dad’s company. I never heard he or my mom say no to participating in those food baskets – they were part of our Thanksgiving tradition. In many ways those simple but significant food baskets shaped how I have looked at sharing and giving. As I have matured in my giving I have also come to understand that giving is not always about economic need. You can give by being a close friend. You can give by sharing your experience and knowledge with someone who needs it. You can give by being a great husband and father, a father who stands up for his family, for his faith, and constantly shows how thankful he is through his giving.

It is interesting that giving is such an important way of saying thanks. We normally associate being thankful with receiving something but being thankful is so much more than “getting.” Giving can fill your heart, satisfy your soul, it can help you rise above the clutter of your daily life. Giving from a grateful, humble, thankful heart is one of the best ways to witness about God’s love and the way He provides for us. Showing our gratitude by giving is how we can thank God for His ultimate gift to us, Jesus.

If you don’t already do it, give giving a try. I have found the more I give, the more I understand if we have a grateful, giving heart God will provide us with endless opportunities to show our thanks through giving. Yes, Thanksgiving Day is a joyful holiday but real joy comes from celebrating “Days of Thanksgiving.” Seven days a week, 365 days a year, all filled with giving and filled with thanks.