It’s the week before Thanksgiving. Lots of plans go into this particular day, but it’s good to remember where this day came from.

Over four hundred years ago, 139 persons—seeking a better life—risked their lives in a boat that was never meant for the open sea! A 66-day trip, 3,000 miles of open, angry ocean, depending on a ship with no technology. Yet, by the grace of God only one passenger died before they landed in the New World on November 9, 1620. Still more than half of them died that winter, as they had to live on the ship, while the men went ashore to build permanent dwellings.

The following fall, the colonists and the Native American Wampanoag people shared an autumn harvest feast in thanksgiving for all their blessings. Two hundred years later President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held in November.

Words of thanksgiving are found throughout Scripture, but the best ones comes from Paul. “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness…. Bear with one another…forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you... Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. AND BE THANKFUL…”

Be thankful! And before the next holiday, pause long enough to remember who you are and whose you are. You are a child of God…and be thankful.