Holiday Helps

Thanksgiving Day

In the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims at Plymouth gave thanks for their first harvest.

They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to prepare their houses for the winter, being well recovered in health and strength, and plentifully provisioned; for while some had been thus employed in affairs away from home, others were occupied in fishing for cod, bass, and other fish, of which they caught a good quantity, every family having their portion. All the summer there was no want. And now, as winter approached, wild fowl began to arrive, of which there were plenty when they came here first, though afterwards they became more scarce. As well as wild fowl, they got abundance of wild turkeys, besides venison, etc. Each person had about a peck of meal a week, or now, since harvest, Indian corn in that proportion; and afterwards many wrote at length about their plenty to their friends in England, — not feigned but true reports. - William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation: Bradford’s History of the Plymouth Settlement 1608-1650

And so began a tradition in America of giving thanks for the blessings God has so richly bestowed upon us. President George Washington declared a day of “PUBLICK THANSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to eftablifh a form of government for their safety and happiness” in 1789, creating the first national day of Thanksgiving. But it was a letter from Sarah J. Hale, editor of Ladies’ Magazine, who is credited with helping establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday. Her letter to President Abraham Lincoln led to his 1863 proclamation establishing the last Thursday in November as a national Thanksgiving holiday. The official date was later moved to the fourth Thursday in November as a compromise between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and congress, Roosevelt preferring the fourth Thursday to provide more time for holiday shopping.

Here are some ideas to help you and your family prepare your hearts for a day of Thanksgiving:

• Start by reading President George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789.
• Then read President Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation of Thanksgiving from 1863, declared in the midst of the Civil War.
• The tradition of issuing Thanksgiving Day proclamations has continued. President George W. Bush declared Thursday, November 22, 2001 a National Day of Thanksgiving - a particularly heartfelt proclamation following the events of September 11.
• In 1943, a series of Norman Rockwell paintings based on President Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms speech were published in the Saturday Evening Post. One of those, Ours to Fight For — Freedom from Want, shows a family Thanksgiving like only Rockwell could portray. The paintings went on tour around the country raising money for war bonds.
• Lindafay from Higher Up and Farther In shares her family’s Thanksgiving Traditions and invites you to share yours!
• If you desire a simpler and more restful Thanksgiving, you’ll appreciate these tips from Titus 2 Christian Homekeeper for Five Weeks of Thanksgiving Preparation. (See the side-bar on the left for weeks 2-5.)
• Marilyn Moll shares her planning tips, traditional Thanksgiving menu, and recipes. You’ll find more recipes and tips here.
• To put the whole family in the Thanksgiving spirit, read An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott.
• Cindy Downes has put together a Pilgrims-Thanksgiving Unit study that includes many links, book selections, hands-on activities, and more.
• Love to Learn Place has put together Thanksgiving Day activities that start with a study of the Mayflower Compact before moving on to fun and food!
• Annie’s also has a Thanksgiving Lesson for Kids that focuses on being thankful.
• If you are looking for music appropriate to the season, you’ll appreciate these Thanksgiving and Harvest Hymns from CyberHymnal.
• What Thanksgiving would be complete without turkey? Your children will enjoy these fun turkey activities from A Kid’s Heart.
• If you are looking for a meaningful Thanksgiving craft, make a Garland of Gratitude, a simple way to watch the “gratitude grow each year.”
• Finally, read Stories of the Pilgrims by Margaret B. Pumphrey that tells the Pilgrims’ story from their beginning in Scrooby England, to their stay in Holland, until they finally made their way to American shores, celebrating what we think of as the First Thanksgiving.

May you and your family enjoy a spirit of Thanksgiving each and every day!

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. - Colossians 2:6-7