Category Archives: Holidays

Thanksgiving decorations

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(Friday’s Feast post is below.)

Before I change gears completely from Thansgiving to Christmas (I know, I know, most people are in full-fledged Christmas mode already. I like a little lag time inbetween 🙂 ), I wanted to post a few of my Thanksgiving decorations. I didn’t put up many fall decorations at all — it was just too busy to get them up. But I did want to add a few Thanksgiving touches.

These are my little pilgrims and Indians. I got them at a craft show in GA when we lived there. That craft show is one of the things I miss most about that place! There don’t seem to be many here in SC any more.

My husband got this Boyd’s Bear figurine for me on my birthday in August. ♥ I love those leaves — I got them through a home party called Home Interiors several years ago and I haven’t seen anything like them since. I’d love to find more. They have the fall colors only muted and pinkish, which works well in my house with pink in several rooms.

Here is a close-up of the figurine:

Finally, here is the cheery scarecrow I have on my front door:

I have some other scarecrows I usually put out — but they’ll have to wait til next year.

Though I love the Christmas season, I’m a little sad to bid autumn farewell.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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The turkey is in the oven, and there is a bit of a lull before starting the rest of the meal, so I wanted to take a moment and wish you a very happy Thanksgiving and share this last poem from my Thanksgiving files. All of the graphics from the Thanksgiving post have come from Anne’s Place. Hope you have a blessed day!!

Thanksgiving
(Edgar Albert Guest, 1881-1959)

Gettin’ together to smile an’ rejoice,
An’ eatin’ an’ laughin’ with folks of your choice;
An’ kissin’ the girls an’ declarin’ that they
Are growin more beautiful day after day;
Chattin’ an’ braggin’ a bit with the men,
Buildin’ the old family circle again;
Livin’ the wholesome an’ old-fashioned cheer,
Just for awhile at the end of the year.

Greetings fly fast as we crowd through the door
And under the old roof we gather once more
Just as we did when the youngsters were small;
Mother’s a little bit grayer, that’s all.
Father’s a little bit older, but still
Ready to romp an’ to laugh with a will.
Here we are back at the table again
Tellin’ our stories as women an men.

Bowed are our heads for a moment in prayer;
Oh, but we’re grateful an’ glad to be there.
Home from the east land an’ home from the west,
Home with the folks that are dearest an’ best.
Out of the sham of the cities afar
We’ve come for a time to be just what we are.

Here we can talk of ourselves an’ be frank,
Forgettin’ position an’ station an’ rank.
Give me the end of the year an’ its fun
When most of the plannin’ an’ toilin’ is done;
Bring all the wanderers home to the nest,
Let me sit down with the ones I love best,
Hear the old voices still ringin’ with song,
See the old faces unblemished by wrong,
See the old table with all of its chairs
An I’ll put soul in my Thanksgivin’ prayers.

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Giving Thanks

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Giving Thanks
(Author Unknown)

For the hay and the corn and the wheat that is reaped,
For the labor well done, and the barns that are heaped,
For the sun and the dew and the sweet honeycomb,
For the rose and the song and the harvest brought home —
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the trade and the skill and the wealth in our land,
For the cunning and strength of the workingman’s hand,
For the good that our artists and poets have taught,
For the friendship that hope and affection have brought —
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the homes that with purest affection are blest,
For the season of plenty and well-deserved rest,
For our country extending from sea unto sea;
The land that is known as the “Land of the Free” —
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Poem

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Thanksgiving

Dear Lord—I’m thankful for the home I knew in early youth,
Where I first heard from Mother’s lips the story of your truth.
I’m thankful for the fellowship with friends who ever hold
Within their hearts Your gift of love, as world events unfold,
I’m thankful for Your peace that stills my heart, and light that guides
My course, as chaos rushes by on swiftly changing tides.
But thankful most—for faith that looks beyond a mortal sky
To truth—to your unchanging truth that cannot ever die!

— Sarah Mizelle Morgan

“Thanks to God”

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This hymn was on my heart this morning, but unfortunately it wasn’t in our hymnals. I found it at the Cyberhymnal site. It is a lot older than I thought it was! It was written by August L. Storm in Swedish in 1891, translated into English by Carl E. Backstrom in 1931. The tune by Johannes A. Hultman is the one I am familiar with. While searching for this hymn, I found a little bit of background information here. Hope the words are a blessing to you.

Thanks to God

Thanks to God for my Redeemer,
Thanks for all Thou dost provide!
Thanks for times now but a memory,
Thanks for Jesus by my side!
Thanks for pleasant, balmy springtime,
Thanks for dark and stormy fall!
Thanks for tears by now forgotten,
Thanks for peace within my soul!

Thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered,
Thanks for what Thou dost deny!
Thanks for storms that I have weathered,
Thanks for all Thou dost supply!
Thanks for pain, and thanks for pleasure,
Thanks for comfort in despair!
Thanks for grace that none can measure,
Thanks for love beyond compare!

Thanks for roses by the wayside,
Thanks for thorns their stems contain!
Thanks for home and thanks for fireside,
Thanks for hope, that sweet refrain!
Thanks for joy and thanks for sorrow,
Thanks for heav’nly peace with Thee!
Thanks for hope in the tomorrow,
Thanks through all eternity!

Thanksgiving “funnies”

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  • Q: What do you get if you divide the circumference of your pumpkin by it’s diameter?
    A: Pumpkin Pi

  • As the leftover turkey said after it was wrapped up and refrigerated, “Foiled again.”

  • Show us the man who throws Thanksgiving leftovers in the garbage and we’ll show you a man who quits cold turkey.
  • Where did the first corn come from?
    The stalk brought it.
  • How do you know you’ve eaten too much on Thanksgiving?
    You’re sweating gravy.
  • What do you call a gobbler who thinks he knows everything?
    A smirky turkey
  • The perfect turkey recipe for people who are not sure how to tell when poultry is cooked thoroughly but not dried out:10-12 lb. turkey
    1 cup melted butter
    3 cups stuffing
    2 cups uncooked popcorn
    salt/pepper to tastePreheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush turkey well with melted butter, salt and pepper. Fill cavity with stuffing and popcorn. Place in baking pan with the neck end toward the back of oven.Listen for popping sounds.When the turkey blows the oven door open and flies across the room, it’s done!

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May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious
and your pies take the prize,
and may your Thanksgiving dinner
stay off your thighs!

–Unknown

(Though this was posted in 2006, I am linking to it for Kelli’s “Giving Thanks” event this week rather than reposting it.)

 

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More Thanksgiving -related content on this blog:

Thanksgiving Bible Study

Thanksgiving devotionals and readings are here.

Some Thanksgiving quotes are here.

More Thanksgiving quotes are here.

A “Redneck Thanksgiving” is here.

Thanksgiving poems are here and More Thanksgiving Poems are here.

Thursday Thirteen: Thankfulness

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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).

I don’t know if the Thursday Thirteen meme will be going on Thanksgiving Day, but I am not sure when I might get to the computer that day, anyway, with the holiday happenings and rare occasion to have everyone at home all at one time. So today I want to post thirteen things I am thankful for.

1. God Himself, for all that He is and all that He does, and for all that He has done for me. I could make a lengthy list just from this alone. 🙂

2. My husband of almost 27 years, his kindness and patience and care.

3. My three children with their unique personalities and all the joy the have brought to my life.

4. My father, mother, step-father, brother, sisters, and extended family.

5. My country. America is not perfect and has its problems, but it is still the best place on earth, IMHO. 🙂

6. My home. I have been discontent with this particular house, but I am grateful for having a snug place to live and realize that by some standards this would be considered luxurious.

7. Seasons. I love that I live in a place where there is a definite and beautiful change from season to season.

8. Music. I love it. It uplifts, soothes, encourages, inspires…I can’t imagine life without it.

9. My church.

10 Christian friends.

11. Food, especially the accessibility and variety we have here.

12. Computers!

13. Books. The Best of books, the Bible, foremost, but also the many books I have read along the way (and still hope to read) that have taught, entertained, inspired, encouraged….I could go on and on. 🙂

You can see what other Thursday Thirteeners are up to here.

Works-For-Me Wednesday: Christmas Tips

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It’s Christmas tip day at WFMW! I thought about rationing these out through December, but I think I’ll go ahead and list them all now:

Start early: We might fuss about how early Christmas displays are set up, but why not go ahead and get cards or items you know you’ll need early? You’ll get the best selection without the crowd.

Gift-Wrapping Center: You might prefer to either wrap as you go or wrap everything at once. Either way, assemble all the gift wrapping materials ahead of time to make it easier: paper, tissue, ribbon, bows, tags, tape, scissors, tape in a basket near a large work surface. It helps to not not have to assemble all of that every time you wrap a few presents

Christmas cards: You might want to pre-address and stamp the envelopes, then jot a note and sign a few cards at a time in the evenings or in spare moments through the day.

Bake ahead: Consider baking cookie dough or desserts or breads for parties or casseroles for quick meals ahead of time and freezing them.

Christmas ornaments: If an ornament is missing a hanger, you can use a paper clip, bread twist-tie, chenille stem, or holiday trim or ribbon instead. Or, place ornaments missing hangers or caps in a bowl as a centerpiece or mantel decoration.

Sharing Christmas cards: Often I was the only one who really read Christmas cards as I opened the mail. I began to save the ones received each day to pass around to the family after dinner.

Old Christmas cards: Use fronts of last year’s Christmas cards to make gift tags, post cards, or let children cut out the designs and glue onto poster board or construction paper to make a montage.

Safety: Keep safe during the holidays by going over these tips from the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Don’t forget down time to just enjoy each other and the season.

You can find more Christmas-related tips at Rocks In My Dryer.

Thanksgiving Quotes

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Before you go out into the world, wash your face in the clear crystal of praise. Bury each yesterday in the fine linen and spices of thankfulness.
—Charles Spurgeon

The unthankful heart… discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!
–Henry Ward Beecher

Who does not thank for little will not thank for much. –Estonian proverb

On Thanksgiving Day we acknowledge our dependence.
–William Jennings Bryan

It is therefore recommended… to set apart Thursday the eighteenth day of December next, for solemn thanksgiving and praise, that with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine benefactor…
—Samuel Adams

The following is from Joy and Strength, compiled by Mary Wilder Tileston

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy name, O most High: to show forth Thy lovingkindness in the morning, and Thy faithfulness every night. –Psalm 92: 1-2

IF our hearts were tuned to praise, we should see causes unnumbered, which we had never seen before, for thanking God. Thanksgiving is spoken of as a “sacrifice well pleasing unto God.” It is a far higher offering than prayer. When we pray we ask for things which we want; or we tell out our sorrows. We pray, in order to bring down blessings upon ourselves; we praise, because our hearts overflow with love to God, and we must speak it out to Him. It flows out of pure love, and then the love goes back to our hearts, and warms them anew, and revives and quickens them.
–Priscilla Maurice

Learn the lesson of thanksgiving. It is due to God, it is due to ourselves. Thanksgiving for the past makes us trustful in the present and hopeful for the future. What He has done is the pledge of what He will do.
–A. C. A. Hall

(Graphic courtesy of Anne’s Place.)

More Thanksgiving -related content on this blog:

Thanksgiving Bible Study
Thanksgiving devotionals and readings are here.
 More Thanksgiving quotes are here.
Thanksgiving “funnies” are here and A “Redneck Thanksgiving” is here.
Thanksgiving poems are here and More Thanksgiving Poems are here.

Thanksgiving Reading

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I thought that this week before Thanksgiving would be a good time to share several Thanksgiving- related items in my files. Next week a lot of people will likely be busy with preparing for the holiday or traveling, so I wanted to go ahead over several days this week and share some things with you.

If you are interested in Thanksgiving devotionals, poems, clip art, etc., here are some great sites:

Elisabeth Elliot has Thanksgiving For What Is Given in her Nov./Dec. 1985 newsletter, A New Thanksgiving in the Nov./Dec. 1987 one, An Overflowing Cup in the Nov./Dec. 1991 one, and To Offer Thanks Is To Learn Contentment in the Nov./Dec. 1995 one, A Dog’s Thanksgiving in the Nov./Dec. 1998 one. (Update 11/5/2020: The Elisabeth Elliot.org site has undergone a complete overhaul. These no longer link directly to the newsletter, but the newsletter can be downloaded from the site).

Annie’s Pages have tons of idea. The Make This a Different Thanksgiving page has some great suggestions near the bottom of the page.

More Thanksgiving -related content on this blog:

Thanksgiving Bible Study
Some Thanksgiving quotes are here.
More Thanksgiving quotes are here.
Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation is here.
Thanksgiving “funnies” are here and A “Redneck Thanksgiving” is here.
Thanksgiving poems are here and More Thanksgiving poems are here.