Thanksgiving should be more than just a date on the calendar.
A little girl in another country opened a Samaritan's Purse shoebox and was delighted to find a yo-yo. She pulled it out and held it in her hand as if she were holding diamonds. The look on her face was pure joy and excitement.
A local radio host experienced this last Christmas as he traveled with Operation Christmas Child to deliver the shoeboxes. The story kept coming back to me as I set the table for our family’s Thanksgiving meal. As the children came home and we gathered around the table, I thought of how much we take for granted, and my heart was grieved. We have so much to be thankful for. The table was full of delicious dishes, and we were warm and all in good health. But the one thing on everyone's mind was who would win the afternoon football games.
We should keep a spirit of thankfulness in our hearts and on our minds each day. We have too much to be thankful for to take for granted the freedoms and abundance we are blessed with.
Thanksgiving is a perfect beginning to the Christmas holidays when we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Without Him, we would have no hope or future.
Keep the spirit of Thanksgiving in your heart and on your lips. Come before Christ with thanksgiving.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
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Kimberly Pickens is a wife of twenty-seven years and the mother of two: Joshua, ten, and Meagan, twenty-one. She works as a chef's assistant at a local preschool where she gets the chance to contribute to the success of little ones from day to day. She has two short stories published, both in the Moments series compiled by Yvonne Lehmann. Besides writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, finding ways to grow closer to God, and doing anything that lets her creativity shine. She currently lives with her husband and son, along with the family dog, CoCo, in Simpsonville, South Carolina.