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If you thought Thanksgiving was all about turkey and football, You are in for a surprise!
Especially all you individuals who worship football.
Down through the ages many people often had thanksgiving celebrations of all kinds most of them was a time of prayer thanking God for all things.
Thanksgiving, with its roast turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pies is a distinctively American holiday and is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. The legacy of the Pilgrims is cherished by all Americans as a time for giving thanks for the harvests and for other blessings the year has brought.
Although the Thanksgiving holiday didn't start until much later, we celebrate it in remembrance of the Pilgrims who came to America in the early 1600's.
In August of 1620, a 180 ton ship called, the Mayflower set sail from Southampton, England. She had 103 passengers aboard.
The Pilgrims were in fact planning to settle in Virginia, where there was already a settlement but the state of Virginia of today is much different.. They were part of the Virginia Company, which had the rights to most of the eastern seaboard of the United States.
The pilgrims were going to go to the Hudson River region in New York State, which would have been considered "Northern Virginia," but they landed in Cape Cod Massaschusetts instead. Stormy weather made the seas treacherous which prevented them from sailing further south.
It is always amazing that school children always think the Plymouth Rock pilgrims were the first to come to America.
Before anchoring at Plymouth Rock and disembarking to explore the territory, the pilgrims devised the “Mayflower Compact.” This was to serve as the basis for governing their new colony, where all would have the freedom to worship God as they chose.
The next few months would prove to be very hard. 103 pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, only 56 survived the first, long, New England winter.
Some days, or three people would die in one day due and sickness.
After their first harvest in the fall of 1621, the pilgrims dedicated a day for thanking God for the bounty He had blessed them with.
Their governor, William Bradford, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving towards God. They prepared a great feast to enjoy with family and friends—both from within the colony and with neighboring Indian tribes.
Mr. Bradford states: “Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing, and gives being to all things that are; and, as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled has shown unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation; let the glorious name of [God] have all the praise.”
George Washington in 1789 gave his Thanksgiving Proclamation
To read George's Proclamation:ClickHere
In 1817, the state of New York adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual holiday. By the mid-1800s, other states began the practice. In 1863, President Lincoln appointed it as a national holiday, and gave a Thanksgiving proclamation.
Abraham Lincoln, stated: "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown."—1863
Each president since then has issued a proclamation, announcing the celebration of this day.
As Thanksgiving Day approaches, stop and consider the many blessings and wonderful things that you have and be grateful for, especially that you live in such a country as ours.
When you and your family start to enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner, be sure to thank God in prayer for your freedom and our ancestors who gave great sacrifices to help gain that freedom. Remember the soldiers that are still fighting for freedom all over the world and making sacrifices even today for what we believe in.
Through the Woods
Over the river and thru the wood,
To grandfather's house we go;
The horse knows the way
To carry the sleigh,
Thru the white and drifted snow, oh!
Over the river and thru the wood,
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes,
And bites the nose,
As over the ground we go.
Over the river and thru the wood,
To have a first-rate play;
Oh, hear the bell ring,
"Ting-a-ling-ling!"
Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day-ay!
Over the river and thru the wood,
Trot fast my dapple gray!
Spring over the ground,
Like a hunting hound!
For this is Thanksgiving Day.
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