Talking about Thanksgiving

I’m glad for a set-aside feast day expressly for thanking God. It’s a good opportunity to think specifically about this one topic, draw from our history, and use it to focus on a biblical responsibility. The other day in the car we talked about the upcoming day. Until now all they knew about Thanksgiving was that the cousins are coming.

Our car was filled with bounty from the desert: Yucca pods (we’re using them for Christmas presents), wild gourds, interesting plants for a bouquet, orange sand and a shotgun shell. We prayed that God would help us find a safe place to find these things, and God answered our prayer. I said Thank you to God (out loud of course) and started, in my best preschool teacher voice, to talk about Thankfulness and Thanksgiving.

I told them that we can tell God thank you for the things He gives us, for the things He does, and for who He is. When I ask them to give me ideas from these categories, they don’t know what to say. Right now, Bethel always says Thank you for Daddy and David shrugs his shoulders. I’m hoping the more I give them suggestions, the more they’ll understand how much God has given us.

I told them that next week, we’re going to have a special day where we can eat good food that God has given us, and tell God thank you for the things He gives us, the things He does for us, and who He is. I reminded them that they are learning Psalm 100 to say with the cousins as part of our feast day. I’m hoping we can get them all to act out the Pilgrim story. We’ll see.