Hearts of thankfulness and praise

Today is Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday in the United States. This celebration reminds us of our earliest years when this great nation was just being settled.

In 1620, a group of religious separatists (Pilgrims) left England for the New World so that they could practice their Christian faith as they saw fit. Their voyage across the Atlantic was rough and they finally reached land in November of 1620. However, this first winter in this new land was a harsh one; they lost lost about half their number to sickness and death.

The next spring, guided by Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe, the Pilgrims learned to plant corn, where to fish and hunt. That autumn their harvest was plentiful; now they were better prepared for the winter. To express their gratefulness to God for his provision to them, the Pilgrims hosted a feast of thanksgiving for the colonists and for their native friends. [Learn more about the Pilgrims.]

More than 100 years later, President George Washington made his Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789 which established the 26th day of November as the national holiday of Thanksgiving. 

As you sit down to a table full of Thanksgiving goodness, please take a moment to remember how we got here. And offer a prayer of thanks for God's provision. 

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