Thanksgiving 2009 - Let us give Thanks!

Lord, Could we talk for a few minutes?

I knew you would say yes!

You are such a good listener. Wish I knew how to listen as well as you. Feel free to jump in here anytime, in case I start to ramble!

Oh yah, I knew you would do that too. In any case, I just had a few important things to talk to you about today.

First things first, do you remember those explorers you sent out. You gave them the courage to sail all over the world. They were men who sailed day and night, day after day, month after month. They left their homes not knowing if they would ever return. I can not imagine the fear that must have built up in those brave souls, not knowing where they were or where they might end up. They had no flight plan or itinerary! Nor can I imagine the joy and excitement they must have felt the day that they finally did see land on the horizon. Thanks Lord, for them, their courage, their safe travel and their discoveries!

Remember all those brave people who left Europe and came to America when it was a wild settlement. They left their known world for an unknown world. Their courage to me is incredible. They left everything they knew with the hope of having something better in our “New World”, a world that they had never seen before a world that did not exist until they created it! Thanks Lord for their safe travels and their determination to make America the land of the free.

You gave them courage to stand tall and fight for the freedom of democracy that we have today. They thanked you on the first Thanksgiving and we thank you today on our Thanksgiving of 2009. You provided them with food for their first Thanksgiving and the first brutal winter in the New World and you do the same for us today. And we thank you for continuing with that tradition for all these years.

You provided us with people who are civic minded and focused on America and making it the Democratic country that we love. You gave us people who are courageous enough to become members of our military, leaders, governors, senators, congressmen and judges. You have guided their decisions and our country has most often flourished. The road is bumpy today and has been bumpy in the past but with your guidance you have always pulled us through. We, as a people, do not always agree but that freedom is a part of our Democracy and so we Thank You.

You gave me wonderful Grandparents who loved me and whom I loved as a child but I did not understand their importance or how much they taught me until much later in life. You gave me parents who loved me, encouraged me and had the courage to let me spread my wings and fly when the time came. They "cheered me on" when I flew and were there to help "pick me up" when I fell! It takes courage to let your child fly or fall. Thank you Lord!

You gave me the world’s best siblings with whom wonderful memories have been created. You taught us to love, to share, to encourage, to champion, to support, to listen, and to enjoy! Thank you Lord and incase you are wondering, we have just gotten started with a new bunch of memories. So stay tuned!

You gave me two sons, whom I love. You gave me the courage to raise them when I was just a child and to set them free when they became adults. You helped me through the smooth sailing and the rough seas and for that I am grateful. Thanks so much for teaching me balance, for knowing when my role in their lives should be in the foreground and when it should be in the background. Your guidance is most appreciated when the line is fine. I am still listening.

And then for my second chance in marriage, thanks so much for sending my husband across my path first as a friend and then as my companion for life. Help us to learn to sail through the still waters and the rough seas enjoying the adventures which each brings.

Thanks for my Grandchildren, help me to know what they need to learn from me as my Grandparents knew what I needed to learn. Please give me the right time and place to teach them the lessons. They are so very special and carry our family on into the future.

Then there are nieces, nephews, cousins and friends who you orchestrate into our lives at the exact times they should be there. Some remain in your life for ever and others come in and out of your life but you are better for their friendship! They bless us with their gifts and we thank you for these blessings.

You have given me the opportunity to peak into the lives of my family members who have come and gone long before me and I am Grateful. You have blessed me with the ability to get to know wonderful people who I never met or who are related to me through these early settlers and for that I thanks you.

On this Thanksgiving, and each day of our lives, we are blessed! Thank You, Lord

Love, Jan

PS. You let me ramble, you have this listening thing down to a science! Have a Great Day!