Plymouth was the place of such a tale. A small, dwindling group, of seemingly frail people, invisible to the world at large, taking time to worship and thank their creator God for His lovingkindness and mercy and provision. And yet they were not invisible to God. Their tale has lived on to inspire many thousands to live a life of faith. This is what I would call a intentional, purposeful heart devoted to joy, celebrating the reality of God and obedience to worship and praise Him. Another picture of God taking the small, faithful and turning it into an eternal work.
We are in a different sort of time, but trying to believers nonetheless. Erosion of Biblical morality, economic pressures, the break-up of marriages, materialism, godless values, and yet, here we are, blessed to know Him, to know our future is secure with Him for all eternity, where we will celebrate the great feast of all times, when we are with Him face to face.
It is a time for us to celebrate our own feast to His reality this Thanksgiving, as an act of faith for His reality, power, provision and blessing in our own time. This is a time when He can still use the acts of faithful people to turn the world upside down.
I love having the opportunity to celebrate this great story with our family. The story of Squanto is amazing. To see how God used one man, took him all the way to Europe as a slave to learn English, to be led to the Lord by monks, so that he could return to America in order to help save the Pilgrims so that he could show them how to live in this new world. (The Disney movie about Squanto is actually very beautiful.)
Even the story of the Pilgrims themselves--the idea that man had the right to worship God and hold fast to his beliefs and to do whatever necessary to provide this for their children is a model of what we should follow--to fight for the ability to worship God, to pass on our faith to our children, to make this a supreme priority--what a great story to pattern our lives after. So, be sure, this Thanksgiving, to not forget the real reason of this holiday. To notice the fingerprints of God in history, to notice His fingerprints of grace and blessing in our own lives. To dream with our children how we might leave a legacy of faith, bringing His kingdom to bear in our own generation. And to celebrate His goodness to us this year by taking the time to praise and worship Him together. How blessed we are to have such a heritage.
Some favorite Thankgiving books: