Abundant Grace Thanksgiving

And here we are!  This is my favorite of all holidays.  Thanksgiving!  It is full of great memories.  It was the one holiday when all the aunts and uncles were together at Grandma’s house.  There were no cousins on that side of the family.  That meant that the only two people to contend for the turkey legs were by brother and me.  I actually never got the leg because my wise Grandma knew that I wasn’t going to get even half of it eaten.  That was alright, though, as Grandma knew best.

Today my wife and I are the Grandma and Grandpa.  Our six children, their spouses and their eleven children are all here.  So is Great Uncle Larry and perhaps a few other invited friends will show up as well.  He and I no longer want the leg.  All the grandchildren are too young to take one on.  Anyway, we cooked the turkey yesterday and deboned it for serving today.  Not quite the way Grandma did it, but it works well with 26 people coming to the table.  There will be chaos and noise and I won’t hear a thing from the other end of the table.  When the last dish is done and the kids have gone to their in-laws houses for a second Thanksgiving feast my beloved bride and I will reflect on all the blessings of the day.

And that is really what we all need to do more of.  God is so good to each and every one of us.  That doesn’t mean there haven’t been tragedies or hard times this past year.  It doesn’t mean that everything we have hoped for has come about just the way we wanted.  It does mean that God is so good to each of us.  The sun has always come up, and if it hadn’t we would be in the land that needs no sun to light the sky.  God in grace has held our hand in sickness and difficulty.  He has walked beside us in the beauty of answered prayers and the anticipation of how He will answer more.  He has forgiven our sins and kept us sheltered under the shadow of His wing.  He has and will continue to be God and continue to be good.  That is what we need to remember beyond just today.

Just in case we think all must be good by human standards for us to be thankful, let us conclude today with the great hymn by Martin Rinkart which was written during the 30 Years War when over half the population of Germany died by war or plague or famine.  That is the setting for “Now Thank We All Our God”.

Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done, in whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts and blessèd peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed;
And free us from all ills, in this world and the next!

All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given;
The Son and Him who reigns with Them in highest Heaven;
The one eternal God, whom earth and Heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.