My Favorite Holiday of the Year

I LOVE THANKSGIVING!!!

It is by far my favorite holiday of the year. The crisp autumn weather, seeing my breath in the air, the smell of my favorite foods baking and cooking, warming up by the fire, ....I have nothing but wonderful memories of family gatherings, great food and fun games played in an environment filled with thankfulness and  love for one another. Don't misunderstand, I love Christmas too, but for me Thanksgiving has become the holiday that focuses on Love, Family and an attitude of Thankfulness toward our God and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our Thanksgiving tradition, no matter where we are, is to gather around us what family and friends we can, share in the preparing and enjoying of a wonderful meal, take time to reminisce and talk about what we are thankful for and give thanks to God for all of the wonderful blessings he has bestowed  upon us as we visit with one another, play games or sing, laugh and just enjoy each others company.

With Thanksgiving I don't lose my focus on what the holiday is about. There is no worrying about who I am supposed to purchase a gift for or if I made the correct choice in colognes, clothes or electronics, if the toy my child wants will still be available when I finally have the money for it or getting all the outside lights strung up and working, finding the perfect tree and the time to decorate it and the house, finding money for all the "Christmas Cheer" that I am expected to supply, making sure everyone who sent me a Christmas Card gets one in return,  not to mention the food, gifts and fancy clothes for parties that start the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Then there's chorus rehearsal and making "homemade" gifts that you hope the receiver will appreciate, and goodies for work, etc, etc, etc. All of these things have become part of our Christmas traditions that I look forward to, but not with the same amount of peace and contentment in my heart that I get from Thanksgiving. There seems to be more of an excited and "rushed" feeling at Christmas, up to Christmas Eve, then, somehow, miraculously the peace of the season sets in.

Maybe I love Thanksgiving because its not about me or you but about giving thanks in the simplest way possible. By spending time with each other while sharing a delicious meal and remembering how blessed we are to know our Heavenly Father loves us and is mindful of us always.
Because I love Thanksgiving so much, I purposefully boycott all things Christmas (except Chorus rehearsal, which is a must) until after the Thanksgiving Holiday has ended. I don't participate in Black Friday because I am trying to make this wonderful feeling last 1 more day.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!
May you find contentment and peace this year!