5 Thanksgiving Reminders to Encourage and Challenge You.

Happy Thanksgiving Week y’all!

We gather around our tables year after year to capture a bit of that original Thanksgiving spirit. It’s easy to be the critic, to see everything that’s wrong, but it requires an exceptional act of the will to slow down and remember what we have to be thankful for.

In 1620 a group of “pilgrims” set sail from England to establish a settlement in the new world. The conditions were harsh and the task was impossible. There was already a settlement in Jamestown, but this new colony was different. It wasn’t a group of men simply looking for some financial gain — it was families, women and children, moving their lives to this new place. When the native tribes first saw them they were a bit perplexed, they had never seen western women and children before.

The harshness of the task took its toll and the group barely survived the winter. One hundred and two people left England for the New World, only 51 survived the winter.

And yet we associate "thanksgiving" with this group of people, why is that? We can learn much from their life and circumstances.

A few “Thanksgiving-style” encouragements.

GRATITUDE IN THE MIDST OF ADVERSITY.

Harsh weather, debilitating disease, scarce resources. And yet they still gathered for a day of “thanksgiving” for the blessings that they did have.

For us? Cultivate gratitude — even in the face of challenges, appreciate the positive aspects of your life, even when things are tough.

COMMUNITY AND COOPERATION.

The truth is, the only reason the Pilgrims were able to survive the winter is because they received help from Squanto, a man uniquely gifted to help them.

Earlier Squanto had been kidnapped by English explorers and taken to England. He spent years in Europe and learned English. When the Pilgrims arrived he helped them navigate the existing tribes and taught them how to farm corn, beans, and squash.

Without cooperation and community and new friendships, the Pilgrims had no hope.

LESSON: Make friends, be a friend.? ?

RESILIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE.

The simple lesson is, don’t give up. Difficulties are a part of life's journey and we can find strength in pushing through adversity.

I think it’s true to say that lesser men and women would have failed, and yet these people didn’t. Why not?

Mettle.

LESSON: Keep on going forward.

CULTURAL EXCHANGE AND UNDERSTANDING.

The native tribes and the English settlers couldn’t be more different. And yet for a small season it worked. Both groups saw each other not as an enemy or a hindrance, but as someone to trust and learn from.

For as long as they did, they thrived.

LESSON: Learn from others.

GENEROSITY AND SHARING.

The first Thanksgiving was marked by a spirit of generosity and sharing. The Pilgrims and the Native Americans came together to celebrate and feast.

They were generous to each other and sought to share with each other. We should do this too!

LESSON: Be generous and be giving. Surprise a friend with an act of kindness.

...

I’ll end with a few words from Abraham Lincoln,

"The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God."