A Thousand Thanksgivings

In the wee hours this morning, instead of sleeping I was remembering the many Thanksgivings past. I remember as a child, helping mom cut the bread slices for the stuffing, the smell of onions frying and the continuous aroma floating out of the oven from baking rolls, squash, pies and then, the turkey.  My aunt would get us girls busy making name cards for the tables and setting them at each place with our best dishes. In the years to follow, as many of us got married and began our families, we started the tradition of spending Wednesday night at Mom and Dad's. We would start eating and playing games until the wee hours of the morning. At about 2 am, we would leave the sleeping babies with Mom and a group of us would go out to a restaurant for breakfast. What crazy antics we would do while we waited for our food to be served. Like passing lifesavers on toothpicks in our mouths around the table or shooting contest with our straws, to name a couple. (Aunt Barb let us do it!) We were always thankful that there weren't too many other people there as they may not have thought we were so entertaining! As our families grew and some moved away, we started renting a camp building with a big kitchen and a lot of bunk beds to accommodate us all. We had a agenda that included old family slide shows, skits, group games and crafts. What wonderful, fun years those were. So much has changed and so much more will change in the years to come. I am so thankful for the memories of those cherished times. I am looking forward, with hope, to many more to tuck away into my heart. A hymn came to my mind that we used to sing every Thanksgiving in my dad's church. "A thousand, a thousand thanksgivings, I bring blessed Savior, to Thee." May we all bring to our God, a heart of thanksgiving for the thousands of blessings He so freely gives to us each day. Happy Thanksgiving!