Theme: Light | Become a Photo Hunter
I spent much of the afternoon and evening thinking the theme was “Red” and pondering what to do and finally come up with an idea I was really excited about…only to realize this evening the theme for today is “Light.” “Red” was three weeks ago — and I even did that one. Yep, those brain cells are serving me well…
So, on to Light! I borrowed these picture from my son (with his permission) of our downtown area decorated for Christmas.
My entry for BooMama‘s Christmas tours of homes is a few posts below — or you can click here. I have enjoyed the ones I have seen so far and have even found a couple of cute decorating ideas.
Last week we had something going on just about every night. Monday evening was our church ladies’ group Christmas party where we also revealed our Secret Sisters for the year — lots of fun! We have several places in the area that you can drive through all done up in holiday lights, so we chose one and went there Tuesday night. Jason’s girlfriend was here for a few days before going home for Christmas break, so it was especially fun to take her. The place we went was one of those drive-through zoo type places and at the end they had an area where you could get out and get refreshments or visit a petting area. Jesse got to feed a bottle to a baby goat.
Wed. night was regular prayer meeting; Thursday night was Jesse’s piano recital.
They have kids from early elementary age all through way through twelfth grade, so there is a variety of pieces and abilities. It’s an enjoyable time.
Friday night was the last night before Jason’s girlfriend left, so we all went out to eat at Red Lobster with gift cards just received from my stepfather. Then, they had been watching our DVDs of the Lord of the Rings films through the week, but we didn’t have the last one, The Return of the King. I had Jason get the extended version of it that day and we watched it that night (though I confess I dozed off a time or two — it’s very long!! We had seen the regular version before, so I knew what happened).
Saturday evening was our adult Sunday School class’s Christmas party. We didn’t make it to this last year — we tend to be homebodies anyway and had been out a lot with other activities and were just too tired. Plus the year before it was at this event that I received news that my mom had passed away, and I was a little too emotional to go and have those memories stirred up. I wasn’t feeling really excited about going this time for the same reasons, but I am glad we did — it was a lot of fun.
Last night was the Christmas cantata at church. It’s always enjoyable. This year we didn’t have any participants from our family: at various times in the past we’ve had one or two of us in choir, and a couple of times one of us (not me!!!) has had speaking parts. But this year we just observed and enjoyed. It was a cantata I had never heard before: with all new songs it is a little hard to take it all in, but there were some lovely pieces in it. It’s events like that that help us stop for a moment and reflect on what Christ did for us by coming to earth to live and then die for us. Not that we don’t do that at home or at other times, of course, but these events help keep us focused.
As I mentioned in the last post, Jason had two wisdom teeth out this morning. Everything went well and he’s asleep upstairs, getting up every now and then to change the gauze. On one side where the root was close to a nerve in the jaw, the doctor said he didn’t encounter it during the surgery, so it should be fine — he might have some tingling there. I’m off to get his antibiotics and pain medication in a little bit.
Tomorrow night is Jesse’s Christmas program at school, Thursday night he has a teen caroling party, and Friday night is Jeremy and Jason’s college and career class Christmas party. Friday is also our 28th wedding anniversary. ♥
After that we’re back to our regular life schedules except for Christmas and New Year’s and vacation days. :p But the special events will be over. Though sometimes all the activities do leave me exhausted (one year in the past we had kids in two recitals and two school Christmas programs in the same week!), this year I have been really enjoying them.
I spent a lot of last week getting most of the last of the missionary Christmas packages out. I still have a couple of stragglers — people who signed up to bring things but haven’t gotten them in. Thankfully these packages are going to folks in the States.
My goals for today:
1) Mail out one more package.
2) Look on my family’s Christmas lists to see if there is anything else I need to order and take care of that.
3) Edit our family Christmas letter and print it off. I finished it last night but wanted to let it sit overnight before reading over it one last time and tweaking anything necessary.
4) Print Christmas pictures.
Here’s the one I think I’ll be using for Christmas cards:
Jason’s in a bit of a shadow there, but in the ones where I used my flash, there’s a glare on Jeremy’s glasses.
This…is real life: 😀
5) Work on getting Christmas cards ready. I say every year I am going to get that done earlier — I actually had most of the letter done Dec. 2 and the boxes of Christmas cards have been sitting here. But there have been other things going on…
6) When my family came up in October they brought a ton of pictures for us all to go through. We took some of the one-of-a-kind ones to scan and put on a CD. Jeremy has been scanning and editing them (and I am amazed at how much clearer he’s made many of them!) I’m going to work with him some time today to choose which ones to put on the CD (many are my baby pictures and I figure the rest of the family won’t be as interested in those. 🙂 ) and rename them so they know who the people are in some of the older pictures. Then hopefully we’ll get that CD made and I can get them ready to send out.
Then maybe I can get some Christmas shopping done….
Karla at Karla’s Cottage is having a “What do you love about your holiday home?” party and BooMama is hosting a “Christmas tour of homes.” I’m using this same post for both events. 🙂 All of these have appeared on my blog before — I don’t think we have added anything new this year. Yet. 🙂
So come on in…
Have a slice of Harvest Loaf Cake.
Even though its name sounds fallish, we like to use it for the holidays. I don’t make it at Christmas because we have all those pies then, but usually some time in early December I make some for us and some for gifts.
I am a Christian and believe Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ who came to die for our sins. I’ve been saying “Happy Holidays” for years, though, to include Christmas and New Year’s Day, so I am not trying to be “PC” by saying Happy Holidays. 🙂
Decorations on the piano. I did the calligraphy about 20 years ago in an adult ed. class — but I haven’t done any calligraphy since then.
My mom gave me this several years ago. I has a button in the back that you can push to hear Christmas music and watch the lights flash. The boys have loved this. Since my mom passed away almost exactly two years ago, these gifts from her are even more treasured.
This is something else my mom sent: a Nativity musical figurine.
This is one of my most special treasures, also from my mom. I collect Boyd’s Bear figurines, and somewhere she found this Christmas tree with little miniature scenes all though it.
Here are a couple of close-ups:
On the other end table are these snowpeople. I got the three snowboys because they reminded me of my three sons. 
Then the boys got each of the bigger snowmen in a crane game. So we put them all together as our family representatives. I should get a little feminine hat for one of the bigger ones to represent me.
I have pastel colors and a lot of pink in my home. That’s a bit of a dilemma at Christmas with all the reds: some of my ornaments and things that were given to me have red in them. In recent years I’ve leaned toward the maroonish bluer reds and dark pinks that would go better with the rest of the decor. But, as I said in the earlier posts about ornaments, I want this all to be family-friendly more than “designer” decorating, so for the most part I just don’t worry about it. However, I was delighted to find this little snowman in my living room colors:
One of my favorite decorations is this little mouse. If you light the candle in the back it looks like a fire in the fireplace.
Here is the fireplace in the family room with the stockings. I made the plaid ones after we were first married and a dear friend knit the others for each of the boys as a baby gift after they were born. The rest of this room is in blue, tan, and off-white, so the red doesn’t clash with pinks in here.
I need to redo the white fluffy parts on mine and my husband’s stockings and maybe appliqué something on them.
Here is our tree with a few favorite ornaments:
These are some felts ones I made early on in our marriage, I think from a kit. I love the little sheep.
This is a Boyd’s Bear ornament my dear friend Carol gave me:
This is from a set of Victorian ornaments that I love which includes a ball and a teardrop shape with the same little flower cluster:
This is a nativity ornament which clips on to one of the light bulbs so it shines through. Someone gave this to someone else at a Secret Sister Christmas party at church, and I liked it so much I went out and bought one for us. I think it is the only Hallmark ornament we have.
This is one I made early on. It has about 1/3 of a toilet paper roll inside and is wrapped in a strip of red felt. White felt circles go over the ends and cross-stitch floss is used to sew the tops and bottoms on in that drum-like pattern. Then little strips of felt are rolled around the end of toothpicks for the drumsticks, and they are glued on. This is made to sit on a branch, but you could use the same floss to make a loop through the edge of the top white felt circle.
This is from a cute little felt snowman set I liked. I bought it rather than made it, but I made the little plastic canvas candy cane.
This one is special to me because it is one of the first ones I ever made. I found the little circle, stained it, found the little miniature tree, dipped the tips of its branches in glue and then it different colors of glitter, then glued it into the circle and added a gold thread loop.
This is one of our newer ones, bought last year at the Christian bookstore. Having all boys, I’ve loved cards and ornaments with little shepherd boys.
This is one of my two attempts at One Stroke painting.
This is one of several cross-stitch ornaments I made several years ago. I think these were the first things I cross-stitched. Sorry this one is a little blurry.
I made this ornament last year — after Christmas, actually — after seeing various button wreaths on a few blogs:
I realized afterward that the little Christmas tree is a charm rather than a button, but that’s ok. 🙂
Thanks for visiting! I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.
Infant holy, Infant lowly, for His bed a cattle stall;
Oxen lowing, little knowing, Christ the Babe is Lord of all.
Swift are winging angels singing, noels ringing, tidings bringing:
Christ the Babe is Lord of all.
Christ the Babe is Lord of all.
Flocks were sleeping, shepherds keeping vigil till the morning new
Saw the glory, heard the story, tidings of a Gospel true.
Thus rejoicing, free from sorrow, praises voicing, greet the morrow:
Christ the Babe was born for you.
Christ the Babe was born for you.
Traditional carol, translated from Polish to English by Edith M. Reed, 1921.
Graphic courtesy of Anne’ Place.
One of our town’s annual events is a “Dickens of a Christmas.” Main Street is blocked off, various groups stage reenactments of holiday scenes or plays in store windows, there is a parade of people dressed in Dickensian garb, choirs sing and instrumentalists play at various locations, vendors sell hot chocolate and various foods, and there is a carol sing and lighting of the Christmas tree. My oldest son did a nice write-up about this year’s event.
In past years attendance had gone way down and few groups seemed to be participating, but this year there seemed to be a resurgence of interest. In fact, it was almost too crowded to enjoy at some points. We discussed going next year right when the parade starts at 6 and then eating there. They used to only sell munchies and warm drinks, but now area restaurants sell full dinners at a food court. It’s hard to get there by 6 and eat dinner at home beforehand when many of the family members don’t get home til 5:30 or 6. Most people seem to come for the tree lighting at 8, so if we got there early and ate, then maybe the windows wouldn’t be so crowded for an hour or so til people started trickling in for the tree lighting.
Overall we really enjoyed it.
The sad thing is, though, that I hadn’t originally planned on going. I’m getting to be — dare I say it — somewhat leaning toward old and set in my ways. Usually after dinner I like to crash with my feet up and go through recipe magazines or watch TV or read or whatever. I don’t usually like to get out and go anywhere in the evenings, especially when it’s cold and dark. And crowded places make me feel a little claustrophobic. And I have this thing about being able to have access to bathrooms.
We hadn’t talked about going, but I overheard my husband say something to one of the kids about it, and Jason was bringing his girlfriend over for it. I found out afterward that Jeremy considers it one of the highlights of the year. So I was glad we went. I was also glad no one had asked me point-blank if I wanted to go beforehand so I didn’t cast any negativity over it. We talked about the need to get out of our rut sometimes. I’m a confirmed rut-dweller, but it is nice occasionally to get out and about. 🙂
Updated: I had posted this on Sunday, then noticed last night that My Life as Annie’s Time Travel Tuesday this week is about Thanksgiving memories, so I am using this same post for that. It’s good to have TTT back up and running again!
Joyful Days‘ post about how she spent Black Friday with her mother put me in a reflective mood, so I thought on this close of Thanksgiving weekend I would post about Thanksgiving memories.
I don’t have any specific memories of childhood Thanksgivings except for breaking the wishbone. I also don’t remember much what we did the first few years we were married, though I might if I were to get out the old picture albums. We lived near the university then and I do have vague memories of getting together with other couples. The first Thanksgiving I have a specific memory of was when Jeremy, our firstborn, was three months old and my husband’s mother came for a visit to meet him. Her return flight to Idaho left, if I remember correctly, Thanksgiving afternoon. We weren’t going to do a Thanksgiving dinner since she was traveling that day, but the more we thought about it, the more we wanted to. So on the way home from Wednesday night church, we stopped at a grocery store and got a small turkey breast and other feast supplies, and I remember my husband remarking what a blessing it was to go to a store that close to Thanksgiving and still have plenty of groceries to choose from.
One event that has been a part of every Thanksgiving I can remember at least since we were married is that the churches we’ve attended have had a special Thanksgiving service the Tuesday or Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving in which those attending have had the opportunity to give a testimony about how the Lord has worked in their lives. It’s one of my favorite times of year to listen to dear folks look back at the joys and sorrows of the past year with thanksgiving for all God did for them.
My husband’s former pastor from Idaho has several children who, when they were first married, attended grad school in the Greenville area, and because there were several in the area at the time, their mom and dad would come to visit them for Thanksgiving, and they would graciously invite us. They were like second family to my husband and one of the primary spiritual influences in his life as he was growing up, and I remember those get-togethers fondly.
One of our most memorable Thanksgivings occurred when one member of that family moved to Tennessee and everyone was invited there. We had recently moved to Georgia, and there wasn’t at that time a direct route from where we were to where we were going, so we decided to swing by Greenville, attend the Thanksgiving praise service of our old church, stay with friends overnight, then drive up to TN early Thanksgiving morning. All went according to plan and we really enjoyed the visit with our old church and friends until Thursday morning: as we pulled out of our friend’s driveway to leave for TN, our car stalled. I don’t remember what was wrong with it, but we just could not get it going. It being a holiday, no mechanics were open. Our friends had plans with family in town for the day and we couldn’t impose on them any further. We ended up getting a rental car, leaving our car with our friends, and calling later to have our car towed to a mechanic. Finally on the road, we were late for the meal at our friends’ in TN, so we stopped at a Burger King. I was very thankful one was open, but as you look at the other diners, you do wonder what their story is and why they’re at a Burger King on Thanksgiving. Back on the road again and reaching those twisting mountainous roads in TN, Jesse got sick — all over the rental car and everything anywhere near him. We had to pull over to the side of the road and deal with the mess (and from henceforth Dramamine became a part of our traveling routine). Finally we got to TN in time for the reheating of leftovers and making of turkey sandwiches in the evening. There was plenty of food left and we enjoyed fellowshipping. We ended up driving back home to GA the next day and turning in the rental car there, having to make a return trip to Greenville later in the week when the car was fixed.
I think we may have traveled to my folks in TX or my husband’s in ID once or twice: more than likely it was Christmas rather than Thanksgiving. But at some point when our children were small we decided to stay home for the holidays rather than deal with the stress of traveling with young children when half the nation seemed to also be traveling (and in the case of ID we faced uncertain weather in the winter months). Plus neither of our families had a distinctively Christian emphasis on the holidays and we wanted that for our children. Though I think having our own family celebration was good for us, in many ways now I kind of regret not spending more holidays with extended family.
I don’t remember what year I made my first turkey dinner on my own but I remember being very nervous about it. Now, however, a turkey seems to me one of the easiest meals to prepare. It took me years to learn how to make gravy, though: I always bought packets of gravy mix or jars of ready-made gravy just in case.
Our Thanksgivings in recent years have pretty much been like this one was. I usually get up fairly early to get the turkey in the oven so we can eat between noon and one, and I enjoy the quietness of the morning with beautiful praise music on our local Christian radio station. I then get my shower and have devotions, and everyone else gets up at various times. We eat around midday, have pies some time in the late afternoon, and leftovers or sandwiches later in the evening. It’s nice for me that once the kitchen is cleaned up, I’m pretty much “off” for the rest of the day. My good husband carves the turkey, then after the meal gets as much of the meat off the bones and cleans the roasting pan for me. We save the bigger bones for turkey bone soup (one of my all time favorite things) some time within the next week. This particular Thanksgiving afternoon and evening we napped, played a game, and watched Ratatouille in the evening (a cute movie if you can get past the idea of rats in the kitchen…). We’re all so scattered between school, work, and various obligations in the weeks before and after Thanksgiving that it is nice to have a fairly laid-back relaxing day with just the family.
Sometimes after dinner we go around the table and have everyone mention something they are thankful for. I wish we did it every year. We did learn not to do it before the meal — everything gets cold on the table and people are hungry.
It also used to be a part of every Thanksgiving that I would call my mom in the evenings. Sometimes my brother and sisters would still be there and I’d have a chance to say hi, but often everyone would be gone and we’d have a chance to chat. That’s one of the things I’ve missed most since she passed away.
As for Black Friday — no way, no thanks!! As I mentioned a day or two ago, I really don’t like crowds in stores, so I wait to Christmas shop til weekdays when there are fewer people around. Lately I’ve done more and more shopping online anyway. Quite often we’ve done some kind of home project in the days after Thanksgiving. But this year we just relaxed, enjoyed each other, and regrouped for the next several busy weeks until Christmas.
I enjoy it when we have five Thursdays in November like we do this year. With Thanksgiving falling on the fourth one, it seems like we have an extra week between it and Christmas. Personally I like to savor the last week of autumn before transitioning to Christmas — though I have been looking at Christmas pictures and graphics for my header, so I may go ahead and change it over sooner than I had planned.
My post about what I am thankful for is here.
I hope your Thanksgiving went well!
… you’ve ever had Thanksgiving dinner on a ping-pong table.
… Thanksgiving dinner is squirrel and dumplings.
… you’ve ever reused a paper plate.
… if you have a complete set of salad bowls and they all say Cool Whip on the side.
… if you’ve ever used your ironing board as a buffet table.
… your turkey platter is an old hubcap.
… your best dishes have Dixie printed on them.
… your stuffing’s secret ingredient comes from the bait shop.
… your only condiment on the dining room table is ketchup.
… side dishes include beef jerky and Moon Pies.
… you have to go outside to get something out of the ‘fridge.
… the directions to your house include “turn off the paved road.”
… you consider pork and beans to be a gourmet food.
… you have an Elvis Jell-o mold.
… your secret family recipe is illegal.
… you serve Vienna sausage as an appetizer.
~ Author unknown
Here are just a few verses dealing with Thanksgiving. This is by no means an exhaustive study: it’s just a result of looking up “thanks” and “thanksgiving” in an online concordance. Many of the passages would fit under multiple headings and I am sure there are others that could be added. But this is a good start. It would be profitable to study many of these verses within the context of the passages they came from.
And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will. Leviticus 22:29.
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Colossians 2:6-7.
It is a sacrifice:
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. Hebrews 13:15.
It is often a testimony to others of God’s person and work:
That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. Psalm 26:7
I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs. Psalm 69:30-31.
Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf. II Corinthians 1:11.
For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. II Corinthians 4:15.
For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God; Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men; And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you. II Corinthians 9:12-14.
And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. Revelation 7:11-12.
Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. I Chronicles 16: 8-9.
And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise. I Chronicles 16:35.
So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations. Psalm 79:13.
It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most high: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night. Psalm 92:1-2.
Often coupled with joy and singing:
And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps. Nehemiah 12:27.
Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. I Chronicles 16: 8-9.
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Psalm 100:2-4.
Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God. Psalm 147:6.
Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name. Psalm 18:49
Often coupled with prayer:
Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. Psalm 50:14-15.
I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. Psalm 116:17.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7.
Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving. Colossians 4:2.
Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. Ephesians 1:16.
A result of meditating on God’s Word:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Colossians 3:16-17.
A result of being filled with the Spirit:
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Ephesians 5:18-21.
Reasons to thank the Lord:
It’s commanded:
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Psalm 100:4.
Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving. Colossians 4:2.
His greatness, His creation:
O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
Psalm 95: 1-5
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. Psalm 107:21-22.
His comfort:
For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. Isaiah 51: 3.
His bountiful supply:
Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. II Corinthians 9:11.
His unspeakable gift:
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. II Corinthians 9:15.
Meat:
Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. I Timothy 4:3-5; Matthew 15:36
Deliverance from enemies:
And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name. II Samuel 22:49-50
And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise. I Chronicles 16:35.
Psalm 18:48-50
His goodness:
O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. I Chronicles 16:34; Ezra 3:11; Psalm 106:1; 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136.
His holiness:
Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. Psalm 30:4.
His deliverance from sorrow:
Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. Psalm 30:11-12
His righteous judgments:
At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments. Psalm 119: 62.
Victory over death:
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 15:56-57.
Causing us to triumph, making Himself known through us:
Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. II Corinthians 2:14.
His working through other people:
But thanks be to God, which put the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you. II Corinthians 8:16.
Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. Ephesians 1:16.
We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints. Col. 1:2-4
I Thessalonians 1:1-3; 3:9-10; II Thessalonians 2:13-14.
Saving us:
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:12-14.
All things:
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20.
In everything:
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. I Thessalonians 5:18.
Authorities:
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour. I Timothy 2:1-3.
His power and reign:
Saying, We give thee thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned Revelation 11:17.
Results in worship:
And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Revelation 4:9-11.
Other passages:
For Kelli’s “Giving Thanks” week and for today’s Show and Tell Friday I wanted to show my Thanksgiving decorations.
I got this little Pilgrim and Indian group at a craft show when we lived in GA.
This is a similar little group but I bought it somewhere else that I can’t remember. Can you tell I like happy-faced tole-painted people? 🙂
I’ve shown some of my Boyd’s Bear figurines before. My husband just got this Thanksgiving one for me last year.
And here’s a little stuffed turkey — stuffed with fluff, that is.
Kelli at There’s No Place Like Home hosts “Show and Tell Friday” asking “Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, an antique find. Your show and tell can be old or new. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there’s a story behind your special something, that’s even better! If you would like to join in, all you have to do is post your “Show and Tell” on your blog, copy the post link, come over here and add it to Mr. Linky. Guidelines are here.“
“Our harvest being gotten in, our Governor sent four men on fowling so that we might, after a special manner, rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as… served the company almost a week… Many of the Indians came amongst us and… their greatest King, Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted; and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought… And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God we are…far from want.”
~ Edward Winslow, Plymouth, Massachusetts, December, 1621
Christian, Pilgrim
A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues
~ Cicero
O Lord, that lends me life, lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.
~ William Shakespeare
The Pilgrims came to America not to accumulate riches but to worship God, and the greatest wealth they left unborn generations was their heroic example of sacrifice that their souls might be free.
~ Harry Moyle Tippett
Pride slays thanksgiving, but an humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow, A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves
~ Henry Ward Beecher
Measured by the standards of men of their time, [the Pilgrims] were the humble of the earth. Measured by later accomplishments, they were the mighty. In appearance weak and persecuted they came – rejected, despised – an insignificant band; in reality strong and independent, a mighty host of whom the world was not worthy destined to free mankind.
~ Calvin Coolidge
Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road.
~ Henry Ward Beecher
We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is “good,” because is it good, if “bad” because it works in us patience, humility, and the contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country.
~ C. S. Lewis
No people on earth have more cause to be thankful than ours, and this is said reverently, in no spirit of boastfulness in our own strength, but with the gratitude to the Giver of good who has blessed us.
~ Theodore Roosevelt
Thanksgiving, to be truly thanksgiving, is first thanks, then giving.
~ Unknown
In the old Anglo-Saxon, to be “thankful” meant to be “thinkful.” Thinking of one’s blessings should stir one to gratitude.
~ Unknown
This is the holy reasoning of love; it draws no license from grace, but rather feels the strong constraints of gratitude leading it to holiness.
~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon
O Thou Who has given us so much, mercifully grant us one more thing: a grateful heart.
~George Herbert
More Thanksgiving -related content on this blog:
Thanksgiving Bible Study
Thanksgiving devotional reading is here.
Last year’s collection of Thanksgiving quotes are here.
Thanksgiving “funnies” are here and A “Redneck Thanksgiving” is here.
Thanksgiving poems are here and More Thanksgiving Poems are here.
Join us for Kelli’s “Giving Thanks” event this week at There’s No Place Like Home.
And since I have thirteen quotes, I’ll include this for a Thursday Thirteen. 😀
(Top and bottom graphics are from Snapshots of Joy)
Stray Thoughts 
