Always Thankful

In exactly two days, we'll be pigging out, but I hope we'll also remember to do what the Pilgrims did so long ago: Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. In All Circumstances. That's the rub. What were the Pilgrims' circumstances? After religious persecution drove them from their homeland, they endured nearly three months at sea (and it wasn't anything like a Carnival Cruise). Even after reaching America, they continued to live aboard the Mayflower for many weeks, as this was their only shelter from the New England winter. They faced cramped living quarters aboard the ship, then starvation, sickness, fear of Indian attack, and grief as half of their original numbers died. Help came the next spring in the form of Squanto, about whom William Bradford, the governor of Plymouth, wrote, "he was a special instrument sent of God for good beyond their expectations." And you know the rest of the story. So let's be thankful every day in which God gives us breath. And especially on Thursday as we celebrate the bountiful way in which He has poured out His blessings on us.