THANKSGIVING DAY - 2020

 THANKSGIVING 2020 

“IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

That is my wall backdrop currently.  

Every week, I do several online (like ZOOM) meetings.  I decided the scene behind me (that the camera picked up) was kind of boring.  Originally, my kitchen was behind me - not particularly scenic.  So, I rotated my computer desk so I had a blank wall behind me.  That was a little nicer than the kitchen.  But, I wanted more!!

I went to Hobby Lobby and got a fall scene panel to sew (but I didn’t sew it) and put that up.  That was a nice scarecrow with a crow on his shoulder.  Then I found a print of Van Gogh’s Starry Night and then a poster of the World.  I mounted those and hung them on the wall.  I found a cheap Oshkosh bed sheet at a thrift store and hung that as a backdrop to the artwork.  

I made a “LOVE WINS” picture (and used a frame I salvaged out of a dumpster at my apartment), and then the current “IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS” picture as a Thanksgiving theme (also with a salvaged frame).  An artist friend lent me one of her paintings that will go behind me in a few weeks (probably after the first of the year - as I will make some sort of Christmas poster). 

Okay, enough of a diversion for Thanksgiving Day.  I do like the words and concept behind “IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS”.  Even for the bad days (like the check engine light going on in my car - again)!!  I can give thanks that I have a car, that I have the money to pay for the repairs.  

Now, I want to look at some statements about giving thanks.  All of these come from Country Living.  I have omitted the author, although most of the authors are from people you know of (living and dead)

https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/g2059/thanksgiving-quotes/ 

“Good mashed potato is one of the great luxuries of life.”
(I love true mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving)

The turkey. The sweet potatoes. The stuffing. The pumpkin pie. Is there anything else we all can agree so vehemently about? I don’t think so.”  (Yup!!)

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the eons, it’s that you can’t give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it.” (I know of too many families that have some relational issues - it is time we reconcile with our families!!)

“For me, every hour is grace. And I feel gratitude in my heart each time I can meet someone and look at his or her smile.”  (While it is hard to see smiles behind masks, picture everybody you meet having a great smile!!!)

“To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.” (Then, let’s live in gratitude!!)

"Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other." (Yes, let us show gratitude always!!)

"Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.”  (LOVE WINS)

"Give thanks for a little, and you will find a lot." (yes)

"If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily." (yes)

"He who thanks but with the lips thanks but in part; the full, the true Thanksgiving comes from the heart."  (love comes from the heart!!!)

Give thanks not just on Thanksgiving Day, but every day of your life. Appreciate and never take for granted all that you have."  (every day!!!)

"Appreciation can change a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary." (say ‘thank you’ and appreciate all you meet)

"No one has ever become poor by giving."  (giving lifts you up!!)

"Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. Suddenly, so many things become so little when we realize how blessed and lucky we are."  (We are truly blessed!!)

"An attitude of gratitude brings great things."  (having a positive attitude is everything!!)

"We must find the time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives."  (everybody - from lowest to highest!!)

"Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some." 

"Be present in all things and thankful for all."

“Thanksgiving is a joyous invitation to shower the world with love and gratitude.”

“The more you practice the art of thankfulness, the more you have to be thankful for.”

“When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.”

“The thankful heart opens our eyes to a multitude of blessings that continually surround us.”

“When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.”

“If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share.”

“A moment of gratitude makes a difference in your attitude.”

“It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.”

“Be thankful for what you have. Your life is someone else’s fairy tale.”

“Thanks are the highest form of thought, and gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”

“Thanksgiving is the holiday that encompasses all others. All of them, from Martin Luther King Day to Arbor Day to Christmas to Valentine’s Day, are in one way or another about being thankful.”

“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.”

"We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction."

"We should certainly count our blessings, but we should also make our blessings count."

*****

Yes, I stopped commenting - but you get the idea - although today is Thanksgiving Day - every day should be a day to give thanks!!!!

*****

My friends - I am thankful for all of you - your encouragement means a lot to me.  And, hopefully, most days, I give you something to think about.  

I LOVE YOU ALL - and LOVE WINS!!!

BIG HUGS!!!

Karen