History tells us that the 100+ pilgrims that left Holland and sailed to America dealt with some very adverse conditions. The first Thanksgiving was held with many of the men, women, and children whose dream it was to live and worship free in a new country having died. But all the hardship and disappointment didn’t stop the group from celebrating and praising God for good crop and new found friends in the Wampanoag Indians. The celebration and festival lasted three days. One historian said it took so long to get anywhere in those days that people just stayed when they got there. The main item was not turkey, it was deer. I suppose that was because they were more plentiful in the Northeast. The pilgrims didn’t allow anything to keep them from being thankful for what God had done for them. All of us could learn a lesson from our early settlers. Don’t let anything you are facing or have faced this year keep you from being thankful God is with you today. (1Thes 5:18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.) Be thankful for all circumstances. Maybe what you are facing today is God shaping and molding your life into what He wants it to become. Be thankful for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Today, let’s do like the Pilgrims, let’s Celebrate and Praise God for our Blessings! Pastor Don [image: image.png]