Thankful

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever.

Oh, give thanks to the God of gods!

For His mercy endures forever.

 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!

For His mercy endures forever

Psalm136 NKJV

“The Pilgrims fathers who landed at Plymouth to settle in what became the United States of America can teach us an important lesson about giving thanks.

During that first long winter, seven times as many as graves were made for the dead as homes were made for the living. Seed, imported from England, failed to grow, and a ship that was to bring food and relief, brought instead 35 more mouths to feed, but no provisions.  According to today’s standards, the Pilgrims had almost nothing, but they possessed a profound and heartfelt gratitude to God for His love and mercy. 

Gratitude is one of the greatest Christian virtues.” By Billy Graham

The First Thanksgiving

“Just over 50 colonists are believed to have attended, including 22 men, four married women—including Edward Winslow’s wife—and more than 25 children and teenagers. These were the lucky ones who had made it through a rough entry into the New World, including a harsh winter during which an epidemic of disease swept through the colony, felling nearly half the original group. Some 78 percent of the women who had arrived on the Mayflower had died during the first winter, a far higher percentage than for men or children. “For the English, [the first Thanksgiving] was also celebrating the fact that they had survived their first year here in New England,” Begley points out.”

https://www.history.com/news/first-thanksgiving-colonists-native-americans-men

 We thank the Lord for the first Pilgrims who endured a lot of challenges and hardships in pioneering a new country. They paved the way for many to come to this country to start a new life.  Some of them left Europe for religious freedom, to worship  the Almighty God in heaven.

According to Wikipedia”

“New England and Virginia colonists originally celebrated days of thanksgiving, thanking God for blessings such as harvests, ship landings, and military victories, or the end of a drought. The event that Americans commonly call the “First Thanksgiving” was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World in October 1621.  This feast lasted three days and was attended by 90 Wampanoag and 53 Pilgrims…  

Thanksgiving has been celebrated nationally on and off since 1789, with a proclamation by President George Washington a request by Congress…. until President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens”, calling on the American people to also, “with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience .. fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation…”. Lincoln declared it for the last Thursday in November.”

“Now therefore, our God,

We thank You and praise Your glorious name.”

I Chronicles 29:13