Thanksgiving Day

Soon it will be Thanksgiving Day, 2018.  For what will you give thanks?

As I thought about that question, I thought back to the years of my childhood.  I grew up on a farm.  I remember going to church on Thanksgiving Day to give thanks for the growing season, the crops and the harvest.  It was a time of great awareness of God’s Hands at work in our lives and our circumstances.

So many scenarios came to mind.  The growing season started with the big cucumber patch that Dad and Mom tended.  Each evening, a truck would come for the bags of cucumbers that would go to the pickle factory for processing.  Soon, many vegetables were ready in the family garden, ready for canning or freezing. The gooseberries were picked and made into jam.  Later still, fruit was ready for picking on the apple, pear and plum trees.  Sometime during all this, the wheat and corn was harvested and the hay and straw was put into bales and stored in the barn. Late spring, summer and early fall were busy times on the farm.  I remember eggs from the chicken or turkey, piglets going to market, milk from the cow and visits from the bull.

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,  so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10,11

Many children now think that milk  comes from the store and have not had the opportunity to harvest fruits or vegetables.  Fresh produce is now available most of the year and sometimes we do not even know which country it comes from.  There isn’t anything wrong with this. However, for me, it’s harder to see the reality of God’s provision in these things except for the money I have to buy them.

I am thankful for all that I have, but I also want to make sure that it is right and fair and good. A few years ago, I became aware of an organization that works in 12 countries around the world.  They promote vibrant family farms, strong rural communities and healthy ecosystems, by focusing on activities that build food and livelihood security for small-scale farmers and preserve the agricultural biodiversity necessary to feeding a growing and changing planet.

This made me realize that not only has my focus of Thanksgiving Day changed, but so have many things on our planet.  Maybe it’s time for all of us to get back to basics.  Time to become more aware of how we get the food we have and express thanks to God Who has provided for us.

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~ John F. Kennedy