thanksgiving

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Make sure the turkey is the only thing that gets stuffed!

Here are some turkey facts to impress people as you sit around the table today:

• In 2007, the average American ate 17.5 pounds of turkey.
  97% or Americans surveyed by the National Turkey Federation eat turkey at Thanksgiving.
• In 2007, 271,685,000 turkeys were produced in the United States.
• The average weight of a turkey purchased at Thanksgiving is 15 pounds.
• The heaviest turkey ever raised was 86 pounds, about the size of a large dog.
• A 15 pound turkey usually has about 70 percent white meat and 30 percent dark meat.

As we still have Thanksgiving on our minds and leftovers in our fridges,  let us not let these ideas of thanksgiving, and gratitude slip away too fast. Sometimes we’re in such a hurry, we forget to have honest moments with God. I read this quote this morning and thought that it was a good reminder of why knowing the Lord fills us with gratitude, awe, and hope.

We know a time will come for us to look back with our Lord over the story of our lives. Every hidden thing shall be made known, every word spoken in secret shall be uttered. My soul shrinks back; how will this not be an utter horror? The whole idea of judgment has been terribly twisted by our enemy. One evangelistic tract conveys the popular idea that at some point shortly upon our arrival in heaven the lights will dim and God will give the signal for the videotape of our entire life to be played before the watching universe: every shameful act, every wicked thought. How can this be so? If there is “now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1), how is it possible there will be shame later? God himself shall clothe us in white garments (Rev. 3:5). Will our Lover then strip his beloved so that the universe may gawk at her? Never.

However God may choose to evaluate our lives, whatever memory of our past we shall have in heaven, we know this: It will only contribute to our joy. We will read our story by the light of redemption and see how God has used both the good and the bad, the sorrow and the gladness for our welfare and his glory. With the assurance of total forgiveness we will be free to know ourselves fully, walking again through the seasons of life to linger over the cherished moments and stand in awe at God’s grace for the moments we have tried so hard to forget. Our gratitude and awe will swell into worship of a Lover so strong and kind as to make us fully his own.

     -John Eldredge The Sacred Romance

Did you have fun yesterday? Overindulge? Be honest.
Click here to take the poll.

I’m not really into following the herd (if you haven’t noticed already) so I don’t really do well with commercial holidays. But I’ll look past that because there’s always good reason to pause and meditate on how blessed and thankful we are.

I’m thankful for:

- a big and merciful God

- a loving and supportive wife

- brilliant and amazing kids

- steadfast and encouraging friends

God has really blessed me by surrounding me with such amazing people. I love the fact that get to follow Him (and share His love with others) as my career.

Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.  For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. Psalm 95:2-3

So today is a good day.
What are you thankful for? 

[youtube= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CndP1fYC0M]

It’s almost here. America’s once a year eatting glutton fest of thankfulness better known as Thanksgiving. So to prepare you for the Turkey day, I’ll give  you a few interesting facts so you can impress the relatives as you pass the cranberry sauce around the table. This year, instead of stuffing your face and drinking too much, wow your guests with this mental cornucopia o’ plenty. You can thank me later.   

• The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620.
• The Thanksgiving Feast that the Pilgrims had with the Natives in 1621 lasted three days.
• It is not a sure thing that turkey was part of the Thanksgiving Feast, but venison was definitely part of the meal.
• All 13 colonies celebrated Thanksgiving together for the first time in 1777.
• In 1941, Thanksgiving was declared by Congress to be a legal holiday, held on the fourth Thursday in November.

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In preparation for Turkey Day 2006, I’ve been thinking about what I’m thankful for. It’s a shame I choose to do this once a year, but there’s always 2007.

The top three things I’m thankful for:

1. My Savior and my Wife – without these folks in my life, I would be nothing going nowhere.

2. My Kids – such a source of joy and dirty diapers in my life

3. My Testicles- yes, I do enjoy being a man created in God’s image and it’s the only thing keeping me from joing the AoUtLJ [Association of Unics that Love Jesus - better known as the sleepy, sweater wearing, boring Church Guy cult).

So what are your top three things you’re thankful for this Thanksgiving?