Thanksgiving

[Adam007]

We all know Thanksgiving is a time where we stuff our faces with lots and lots of good food but it's also a time of being thankful for the things we hold so dear in our life.

So, what are you truley thankful for?

Me? I'm thankful for all my family and friends and everyone here on Christian Forums. You guys are awesome!

 

[Adam007]

Just hope this belongs here. Couldn't find a more suitable place to put it. Let's discuss people!

 

[gwenmead]

I'm thankful for the patience of family and friends who are willing to put up with me. I am thankful to my clients for continuing to employ me during an economic downturn. I am glad to have food on my table and a roof over my head, and thankful to the people who helped make that possible.

Things like that.

 

[JustMeSee]

I am thankful for my health and the love and patience of my family.

 

[SiderealExalt]

Hmm. Thankful I didn't accept the job with one of those companies that recently went under, thankful I live in California now instead of Tennessee. Thankful my daughter is doing so well. Thankful Obama is our President. Hmmm..and....thankful that I'm an atheist.

 

[corvus_corax]

We live in a 2 bedroom house with water damage downstairs, floors in desperate need of repair, cruddy early 1970's fake wood panelling, and oven and clotheswasher (no dryer, we have to hang our clothes to dry) from the late '70's, a fireplace we can't use, and tile in the kitchen in desperate need of repair (not to mention the rot in countertops).
I personally make less than $11,000 a year.
Am I sounding ungrateful in that last paragraph?
If so, make no mistake, I'm not.
Compared to many many many (some statistics say "most") people in the world, I live like royalty.
I live in a house (not an apartment, but a 2 bedroom house with a full basement), I have a job (my mother in law, and employee of the auto industry just got laid off at 61 years old after 30 years of employment), we will never get kicked out of our house, and quite frankly, Im one of the wealthiest people in the world.
Did I mention that I not only have shelter, but an actual house to live in? Did I mention how much of a priviledge that actually is?
I think I did

And I didn't wake up in some refugee camp, like many people do across the world. I didn't wake up facing the possibility of guns in my face, or my child being taken from me due to government (or anti-government) demands (sometimes at gunpoint).
I have a wife and a son who love me.
I have a television with 106 channels, high speed internet access, lights, heat, clean water, a functioning sewage system, and enough food to feed a much larger family.
Yeah, Ive got it pretty dang good.
And yes, Im thankful for all of it.


Im also thankful for the people on CF and other forums I belong to.
For people like ChordatesLegacy, Blayz, Aron-Ra, and Pete Harcroff because they expand my base of knowledge.
For people like Jane the Bane, Cantata, quotana, and jcook for giving me points of view I may not have perceived before.
For people like Polycarp_Fan, AV1611VET, and SoF for giving me Christian-based points of view I may not have considered (yes, even when I disagree, I appreciate, believe it or not).
And for all the others who don't fall into the above categories (or maybe you do? )

Im also thankful that I don't currently work in an industry facing the need for financial bailout (at least I haven't heard that the NSLP or Sodexo is in need of a bailout....lol)

ETA
Working in the school system for Sodexo, making less than $11,000 USD per year.....Ive got it pretty damn good overall

 

[Caitlin.ann]

1. Family
2. Fiance
3. Friends
4. Animals
5. Country and heritage
6. Finding my spiritual path, finding the courage to break out and the gods and spirits that are there for me.
7. Getting able to know my grandmother before she passed, having a great childhood where she was around.
8. My health
9. Those closest to me..my aunt is dying of cancer and I can't imagine what it would be like to lose a parent.
10.The safety I enjoy here.
11.I live comfortably
12.I'm in college getting an education

And I'm sure theres more..

 

[Beanieboy]

I am thankful for a wonderful African Dance Teacher that would start the class in African fashion of the elder speaking to the younger people. He said once that he would chant to the "Creator" Thank you, just endlessly, monotanously, until he truly felt it.

I thought about it, and I was in a bad place. I was broke. I was worried about rent and food. And I chanted, begrudgingly. "Thanks. Thanks a lot, God." After I got out my resentment, and entered simple chanting, I soon found myself aware of what I was thankful for - all that I had, rather than all that i didn't have. I thanked God that I had enough food for the month. I thanked God that I had some amazing people surrounding me, and so lucky to be friends. I thanked God for the warm, wonderful bed I fall asleep in. I thanked God that I had an apartment over my head, and asked him to watch out for the homeless tonight. And I asked for forgiveness for overlooking the gifts showered down upon me in love.

I am very thankful for a community that allows me to talk about spiritual matters, and explore and test my own beliefs, and reflect on those of others, since so many people often look at me with a glazed over look, and say, "well, I'm not religious and all, so...." Many of you have really spoke deeply to me, and I believe that God speaks through us, and hope I have served you and God in that way in kind.

I am thankful to the extent which God as sought me out as much as I have sought him. Although I often feel nervous to express my radical views, even question the views that seem to ring true, yet are contrary to others, I'm glad to have such things revealed. I'm also glad for all of the times God has repeatedly told me that he does not come to judge me, but to heal me, for me to shed myself of shame that no one puts upon me but myself, that I am a gift to others, and all souls are gifts to each other.

And that's just off the top of my head.

 

[allhart]

Was Thanksgiving practiced during the early days of the United States?
December 18, 1777 marked the first time that all 13 colonies joined in a thanksgiving celebration. It commemorated the patriotic victory over the British at Saratoga:

"It is therefore recommended by Congress, that Thursday the 18th. day of December next be set apart for Solemn Thanksgiving and Praise; that at one time, and with one voice, the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts, and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine benefactor; and that, together with their sincere acknowledgements and offerings they may join the penitent confession of their sins; and supplications for such further blessings as they stand in need of."
​

President George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving for November 26, 1789 to honor the formation of the United States government. His proclamation called for a day of prayer and giving thanks to God. It was to be celebrated by all religious denominations, but discord among the colonies prevented it from being practiced by all the states. Washington wrote in his November 26th diary entry: "Being the day appointed for a thanksgiving I went to St. Paul's Chapel though it was most inclement and stormy--but few people at Church." President Washington later provided money, food, and beer to debtors spending the holiday in a New York City jail.
Thanksgiving failed to become an annual tradition at this time. Only Presidents Washington, Adams, and Madison declared national days of thanks in their terms. Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams considered the practice to infringe upon the separation of church and state. During the War of 1812, President Madison proclaimed three days of fasting and prayer in response to Congressional requests (August 20, 1812, September 9, 1813, and January 12, 1815). He was the last president to call for a national thanksgiving until Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Governors, on the other hand--particularly in the New England states, regularly issued proclamations of thanksgiving.


Information to rebuttle to those who want to rewrite history in America. As to say it wasn' t about God. Check out the website.
http://www.new-life.net/thanks01.htmt

 

[Adam007]

I am thankful for a wonderful African Dance Teacher that would start the class in African fashion of the elder speaking to the younger people. He said once that he would chant to the "Creator" Thank you, just endlessly, monotanously, until he truly felt it.

I thought about it, and I was in a bad place. I was broke. I was worried about rent and food. And I chanted, begrudgingly. "Thanks. Thanks a lot, God." After I got out my resentment, and entered simple chanting, I soon found myself aware of what I was thankful for - all that I had, rather than all that i didn't have. I thanked God that I had enough food for the month. I thanked God that I had some amazing people surrounding me, and so lucky to be friends. I thanked God for the warm, wonderful bed I fall asleep in. I thanked God that I had an apartment over my head, and asked him to watch out for the homeless tonight. And I asked for forgiveness for overlooking the gifts showered down upon me in love.

I am very thankful for a community that allows me to talk about spiritual matters, and explore and test my own beliefs, and reflect on those of others, since so many people often look at me with a glazed over look, and say, "well, I'm not religious and all, so...." Many of you have really spoke deeply to me, and I believe that God speaks through us, and hope I have served you and God in that way in kind.

I am thankful to the extent which God as sought me out as much as I have sought him. Although I often feel nervous to express my radical views, even question the views that seem to ring true, yet are contrary to others, I'm glad to have such things revealed. I'm also glad for all of the times God has repeatedly told me that he does not come to judge me, but to heal me, for me to shed myself of shame that no one puts upon me but myself, that I am a gift to others, and all souls are gifts to each other.

And that's just off the top of my head.

Quite a lot for a simple question lolz. That's why yur cool.

Keep them coming guys!