thanksgiving

Father God, we thank you for your grace and your mercy, for allowing us to be together under your covenant and God we thank you for the revelations and for the breakthroughs; for your direction and for your healing. We thank you God for the opportunity to just be a vessel for your kingdom. God we trust you, we love you, we honor you, and all glory is yours. Amen

Um, people.__t wasn__ hard to get their attention. They gathered around. Even the littlest ones toned down their giggling, at least a bit.__irst of all, thanks to Albert and his helpers for this meal. Let__ give it up for the true Mac Daddy.__ round of hearty applause and some laughter, and Albert waved sheepishly. He frowned a little too, obviously conflicted about the use of the __ac_ prefix in a way that was not approved in the McDonald__ manual.__nd we have to mention Lana and Dahra, because without them, there would be a lot fewer of us here.__ow the applause was almost reverential.__ur first Thanksgiving in the FAYZ,_ Sam said when the applause died down.__ope it__ our last,_ someone shouted.__eah. You got that right,_ Sam agreed. __ut we__e here. We__e here in this place we never wanted to be. And we__e scared. And I__ not going to lie and tell you that from here on, it will all be easy. It won__ be. It will be hard. And we__l be scared some more, I guess. And sad. And lonely. Some terrible things have happened. Some terrible things_ For a moment, he lost his way. But then he stood up straighter again. __ut, still, we are grateful, and we give thanks to God, if you believe in Him, or to fate, or to just ourselves, all of us here.___o you, Sam,_ someone shouted.__o, no, no._ He waved that off. __o. We give thanks to the nineteen kids who are buried right there._ He pointed at the six rows of three, plus the one who started a seventh row. Neat hand-painted wooden tombstones bore the names of Bette and too many others.__nd we give thanks to the heroes who are standing around here right now eating turkey. Too many names to mention, and they__ all just be embarrassed, anyway, but we all know them.__here was a wave of loud, sustained applause, and many faces turned toward Edilio and Dekka, Taylor and Brianna, and some toward Quinn.__e all hope this will end. We all hope we__l soon be back in the world with people we love. But right now, we__e here. We__e in the FAYZ. And what we__e going to do is work together, and look out for each other, and help each other._ People nodded, some high-fived.__ost of us are from Perdido Beach. Some are from Coates. Some of us are_well, a little strange._ A few titters. __nd some of us are not. But we__e all here now, we__e all in it together. We__e going to survive. If this is our world now_I mean, it is our world now. It is our world. So, let__ make it a good one.__e stepped down in silence.Then someone started clapping rhythmically and saying, __am, Sam, Sam._ Others joined in, and soon every person in the plaza, even some of the prees, was chanting his name.

I am grateful to the Lord for granting me just what I needed.

Remember to give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way

Lack of thanksgiving result to lack of appreciation. Most people fail to appreciate because they failed to devote offering thanksgiving. You'll never appreciate your Pastor, Family, Partner or Friend, if you are not thankful of their presence. Be thankful then you'll learn to appreciate somehow.

Twas the night before Thanksgiving. All the food's in the oven. And I'm in the bedroom performin' self lovin'.

We recklessly attempt to disguise our __reed_ by dressing it in the garb of other nobler ideals such as __ights_ and __rivileges._ Yet, if we dare dress __reed_ in an authentic sense of thankfulness, greed will suffocate within the folds of that very clothing.

To find the magnificence of life, count your blessings.

Thanksgiving is the holiday that encompasses all others. All of them, from Martin Luther King Day to Arbor Day to Christmas to Valentine's Day, are in one way or another about being thankful.

Real ballplayers pass the stuffing by rolling it up in a ball and batting it across the table with a turkey leg.

You shouldn't just give during Christmas and Thanksgiving you should be giving all the time.

Success if yours. Ask for it, stand for it, fight for it and go for it. After you are done, give thanks for it.

I suppose that one of my greatest problem lays in the fact that I have assumed a blessing to be something that is mine for the taking, verses being something that by sheer exposure to it takes me.

Anything I cannot thank God for for the sake of Christ, I may not thank God for at all; to do so would be sin. ... We cannot rightly acknowledge the gifts of God unless we acknowledge the Mediator for whose sake alone they are given to us.

To savor the simple privilege that every day I have a sunrise to bathe in, a storehouse of opportunities to romp through, the thick wrap of relationships to keep me warm, a God who meticulously tends to every detail round about me, and it all costs me not a dime. What madness would keep me from being eternally thankful for all that?

We give thanks to Lord God Almighty.

If there is no element of asceticism in our lives, if we give free rein to the desires of the flesh (taking care of course to keep within the limits of what seems permissible to the world), we shall find it hard to train for the service of Christ. When the flesh is satisfied it is hard to pray with cheerfulness or to devote oneself to a life of service which calls for much self-renunciation.

As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.