By Debby Giusti
I live in Georgia, and at this time of year, the weather is mild, skies are clear, leaves are falling and turkeys are on sale at Publix. The hustle and bustle of the Christmas shopping season is right around the corner, but I’m focused on food and family in anticipation of our Thanksgiving celebration. It’s a joyous time to be together, and my heart always overflows with gratitude for God’s blessings.
“But this is 2020!” some might remind me. “How can we be grateful when life has changed and not necessarily for the better?”
It’s true that we’ve endured
a virulent virus that forced us to shelter-at-home while churches closed and
worship was relegated to virtual services. Distance learning replaced in-school
instruction, businesses shut down, folks were without jobs and the means to
support their families, and travel and social gatherings were curtailed or
forbidden altogether. In some states, those mandates remain. Additionally, many
of our larger cities are still in chaos, our heroic men and women in blue have
been vilified, and orchestrated protests have turned deadly. With COVID cases
on the rise, many folks are wondering how their mental health and the economic
health of our nation can endure another lockdown.
Yet as Christians and in spite of everything that has happened, we need to offer thanks. Scripture tells us, "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Looking
back to that first Thanksgiving long ago might help us put things in
perspective. We all know the story…
In the fall of 1620, one hundred and one Protestants,
seeking separation from the Church of England, boarded the Mayflower cargo ship
in Plymouth, England, and set sail for the New World in search of land and
religious freedom. Sixty-six days later after traveling three thousand miles,
their journey ended, and they came ashore in what is known today as Plymouth,
Massachusetts. In the months ahead, the settlers endured hardships, hunger and
disease. Death claimed half of the Pilgrims, and by spring, only four of the
twenty wives who crossed the Atlantic Ocean with their husbands were still
alive. If not for the local Wampanoag Indians, even more Pilgrims might have succumbed
to the harsh environment. The Indians taught them to fish, hunt local game, and
grow crops, such as corn and beans and squash. That fall, the Indians and
Pilgrims joined together in a three-day celebration of thanksgiving for having
survived their first year and for their bountiful harvest. Difficulties
remained, but the Pilgrims focused on their blessings.
In 1789, after the War of Independence and the ratification of the US Constitution, President George Washington declared Thursday, November 26, a day of thanksgiving and prayer. John Adams and James Monroe followed suit with similar celebrations during their administrations, but it wasn’t until the middle of the Civil War that Thanksgiving became an official holiday. In 1863, after the extensive lobbying efforts put forth by Sarah Josepha Hale, the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, Abraham Lincoln—in hopes of drawing the war-torn nation together—signed a proclamation instituting the fourth Thursday in November from then on to be a National Day of Thanksgiving.
Yes, 2020 has been a tumultuous
year, but I’m counting my blessings. I give thanks for the United States of
America where people from all backgrounds and all races can live together in
peace. I give thanks for our hard-fought freedoms such as the freedom of speech
and religion and assembly. I’m grateful for our military who continue to
sacrifice so that our country can remain--as Francis Scott Key wrote--“the land
of the free and the home of the brave.”
Most especially, I'm
thankful for my faith and my family. I’m also thankful for this Seekerville
blog community, for the friendships, support and encouragement that are freely
given and gratefully received.
This year, because of
the COVID outbreak, I’m even more appreciative of truckers and grocery store
workers, of medical personnel, postmen and firemen and law enforcement, of
church ministers and school teachers as well as restaurateurs and entrepreneurs
who have kept their businesses open in spite of the pandemic.
In anticipation of
Thanksgiving 2020, let’s focus on what we have today instead of what we've
lost during this pandemic. I hope you’ll share those things for which you’re
grateful, especially any blessings that have come about because of this very unique
year.
Also,
let me know if you want to be entered in a drawing for three Christmas stories:
my October release, AMISH CHRISTMAS SEARCH and a two-in-one that features my
story, AMISH CHRISTMAS SECRETS, and THE AMISH CHRISTMAS MATCHMAKER, by Vannetta
Chapman.
Happy Thanksgiving, dear friends!
Wishing you abundant blessings,
Debby Giusti
www.DebbyGiusti.com
Amish Christmas Search
An Amish girl’s disappearance is a mystery…
and the clues lead straight into danger at Christmas.
Convinced her friend
didn’t run away as the police
believe, Lizzie
Kauffman searches for the truth—but
someone will kill to
keep it hidden. Now the Amish
housekeeper and her
friend Caleb Zook are on the
run for their lives.
And if they want to find their
missing friend, Lizzie
and Caleb must figure out
a way to survive the
holiday.
Good morning all! I've brought pastries and cranberry muffins for breakfast. The coffee's hot! I'm sipping my first cup and looking forward to our day together!
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving a week early! :)
Debby, what a beautiful post. A blessed reminder to be grateful for all the blessings we have, that we share, that pour out on our nation every day.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this!
There's so much for which we need to be thankful! Of course, I wish we weren't going through this pandemic, but we know God is in charge, He loves us and wants the best for us. Somehow this, too, is in his Divine Plan.
DeleteBeautiful! Yes, this year has been HARD!! But God hasn't gone anywhere and He is still good. It has always been easier to grumble and complain than it is to count our blessings, but today--and always--we need to do that first. Then, those things we might grumble about don't seem so bad. Thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteGlynis, I count my blessings every day. I'm still employed, I don't have COVID, and I don't have to Homeschool A Child. That's a pretty good tally for 2020, right?
DeleteI'm humbled when I think of what folks around the world endured during WWII! My problems seem so minor in comparison. And we know that people in some countries today are being persecuted, many for their faith! We are blessed, for sure, in the United States of America, even with a pandemic!
DeleteKaybee, yes! Employment and health are two huge blessings! And God bless the moms who are homeschooling. :)
DeleteDebby, this is deep and so welcome at this time. And, Hard To Believe, but we're not the first generation that has been through, well, the wringer. Just in the 20th century they had the Great Depression, two world wars and Vietnam, and we didn't have COVID but polio was no picnic, nor the 1918 flu. And it must have been scary to be a Jew during the Reich, or a Christian hiding Jews. Where was God in all that? Holding their hands and holding them up.
ReplyDeleteIt was a dark time for the Hebrew people in 1 BC. They were subject to the Romans and while they didn't have COVID, they had leprosy. But He came. And "the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light."
Excellent post Debby, I needed that today. This week. This month.
BTW, Sarah Josepha Hale was from Newport, New Hampshire.
I have a relatively fluid schedule today so may be back later.
Your Kaybee
Counting her blessings in New Hampshire
When COVID first hit, I was reading Kristin Hannah's THE NIGHTENGALE about the French resistance during WWII. I kept thinking that our problems were nothing compared to what Europe faced, especially those countries overtaken by Hitler. We had food and a warm house, grocery stores were open and we could phone and FaceTime with family members. Everything is relative, right? Although I am praying for our country with this recent upswing of cases and in the days ahead. I don't think another shutdown is a good idea when mandated by the government. I want people to be given the facts--accurate facts--and then allow them to make their own decisions. Praying for businesses to remain open and viable so folks can support their families! I'm also praying for schools to remain open.
DeletePolio, leprosy, AIDS...there's always a new emerging infection. Of course, COVID is so virulent. I'm grateful that we've developed better treatments! I'm also giving thanks for the vaccines created by American ingenuity. Business working with government for the betterment of the country. We saw it with the production of ventilators and PPE, new drugs for COVID and now the vaccine. All reasons to give thanks!
Sarah Josepha Hale must have been an amazing woman. Can folks visit her home? Is there a museum?
Hope to see you later in the day!
I don't think they saved her home, she didn't live here that long and I don't think anybody realized what a force of nature she would become. But the town of Newport has exhibits and memorials. She was also one of the first if not the first woman magazine editors and she did a bunch of other stuff.
DeleteI read The Nightingale. She is an amazing writer.
I am grateful for the vaccine and think better times are ahead.
KB
KB, did you know she wrote "Mary Had a Little Lamb?"
DeleteThank you for the reminder to count our blessings instead of dwelling on what has happened, and continues, in 2020. It has been a tough year for us lost family members, nothing to do with covid, and one has cancer yet again, third time it two years, so thank you for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteI would love to win copies of the three Christmas stories, so thank you for the chance to do that too.
wfnren at aol dot com
Wendy, my heart goes out to you, this year is tough enough without cancer. Saying a quick prayer and 2021 can't come too soon.
DeleteWendy, you and your family are in my prayers! It seems that so many other medical problems have attacked folks this year, or maybe the pandemic makes everything seem so much worse. Cancer is rampant, isn't it? I keep praying for breakthroughs in treatment. Wouldn't it be wonderful if somehow what we've learned about COVID could lead to a new way to treat other chronic illnesses? Medicine is amazing, but there's so much more to learn! I'm praying for your relative battling cancer. God bless him or her!
DeleteYou're in the drawing, Wendy! Thanks so much for being a regular on Seekerville. Your support means so much to all of us on this blog!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Debby, don't put me in the drawing, I already have the books! I won them here! On my TBR pile for a snowy day, or when I finally give in to COVID and self-isolate.
ReplyDeleteKB, I hope you don't have to self-isolate! Wouldn't that be wonderful! Thanks for your support, dear friend. Again, so glad we connected at RWA! :)
DeleteOn the other hand, if I self-isolated, think of all the writing I'd get done. ONLY writers think this way.
DeleteBut I need to be around people. Keep me locked away and my creativity begins to fade. :(
DeleteWonderful, wonderful post, Debby. We have so many things to be thankful for, yet our tendency is to focus on the bad in life or what we don't have. God didn't call us to grumble. He called us to give thanks in ALL circumstances.
ReplyDeleteI am thankful for my family and friends. For the opportunity to be a part of the Seekerville community. And the list goes on and on. Even in the midst of the storm, there's always something to be thankful for.
So true, Mindy!!! I love the scripture about the ten lepers who were healed and only one returned to give thanks. We need to thank the Lord at all times!
DeleteThank you, Jesus, for Seekerville, for family, for health, and the list goes on and on...
Thank you for the reminder to be thankful for what we have. I am so thankful for my family and that we still get along even though we have stuck with each other for a while. :) I would love to be entered in the giveaway
ReplyDeleteAngeline, family is such a gift, as you mentioned! Yes, you're in the drawing!
DeleteHappy Thanksgiving a week early! :)
Thanks, Debby, for your inspiring post; you are always such an inspiration. Love your books and the many inspiring posts you have done during these past months of covid days. I am thankful my family has kept safe from the virus. Two dear friends passed away during this sheltered in time; 3 are now very ill....I try to spend more time praying for them/families..and our nation....with my/hub health issues, I can't do much more. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family..and keep writing those great books.
ReplyDeleteJackie, I'm so sorry about your friends who passed away. Like you, I have two friends who are battling cancer. They're always on my heart and in my prayers. Doesn't it seem like there are so many more prayer needs this year? Lord, protect all of us and touch our sick friends with your healing love.
DeleteThanks for your support, Jackie! Your comments always bring joy to my heart!
Sending hugs and love and thanksgiving blessings to you and yours!
Hi Debby:
ReplyDeleteHere's a funny family Thanksgiving story you might find interesting.
As a child my mother's birthday would sometimes fall on Thanksgiving Day. This would be great for her because relatives would come to Thanksgiving dinner and my mother would get extra birthday presents! Wonderful!
Except, one day, out of Warm Springs, FDR ups and changes the date of Thanksgiving to provide more days for Christmas shopping. (Well, it was during the depression, you know.)
Unfortunately this moved two birthdays out of the 30th and my mother never forgave FDR. As some states did not go along with FDR, for some years afterward there were two Thanksgivings a year! Even some neighboring states had different Thanksgiving dates!
Finally in 1941 Congress made the current practice official for the entire country.
My mother never forgave FDR and told this story at Thanksgiving decades later!
Vince
Vince, I love your story about your mother's upset with FDR! Yes, he got quite a bit of opposition when he changed the date of Thanksgiving. I don't blame your mother for being angry!
DeleteI've been trying to reach you. Did you change your email address? You won my book last month. Let me know your correct email so I can send a digital copy to you!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi Debby:
DeleteYes, indeed, you have my email correct. I missed your email but when I did a search of my emails, yours came up. I've sent a confirmation email.
BTW: I thought I was reading your Amish book, "Plain Truth" when I came to this line after the hero discovers that the bicycle shop, he bought sight unseen, looked like a junk yard and not a going bicycle store: "Another fine mess he’d got himself into."
Bingo! I thought. That's not Debby's voice. She is not going to have a young Amish guy quoting Oliver Hardy from a 1930 movie. And sure enough, on checking my Kindle, it was Cheryl Williford's "The Amish Midwife's Courtship".
Now, I enjoyed the quote, but it did pull me right out of the story. Not sure if that is good or not. This is the first time I recognized a voice as not a given author's. I think that's one for the books.
On a Kindle you can get mixed up as to which book you are reading where this would not likely happen with a print book. (Actually, now that I think of it, that quote was the author speaking. Not quite "Deep POV". :))
Now I can't wait to finish one and 'hear' your voice in your "Plain Truth".
Vince
Thank you for the reminder to give thanks in all things, Debby!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you always give thanks, Jan! :)
DeleteThank you for sharing. You are so inspiring. I’m thankful to have my mom here instead of a hospice house where she would be alone. I’m thankful for a husband who is supportive. I’m thankful for you and other authors that provide an escape when I find time to read at bedtime.
ReplyDeleteLucy, you're such a faithful daughter. I know your mother's thrilled and grateful to be with you instead of separated from family and living in a long-term care facility. I pray for all those who can't be with their loved ones. It's one of the biggest tragedies of this pandemic. God is so pleased with the care and attention you are giving your mother. It's a huge sacrifice for you and your husband. God bless you both!
DeleteI give thanks for you, Lucy, and all the wonderful readers who are so generous with their support!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you Debby for your encouragement reminding us to truly count our blessings this year. I have been very aware that each day is truly a gift as I had to have two life saving surgeries this year. I have a wonderful God who hears and answers prayers, a caring family, and a skilled surgeon. I got to see our oldest son get married. My cup of blessing overflows! I would love to read these books.
ReplyDeletemarypopmom (at) yahoo (dot) com
Maryann
Maryann, you've had an amazing year and God was with you through it all! Thanks for sharing your praise reports, which bring joy to all of us!
DeleteBless you and bless your family!
You're in the drawing!
Debby, this is great. I have been preaching a similar sermon lately, so tired of the people complaining about how awful this year has been. I have had a pretty decent year, launching a book and signing THREE contracts for next year. And God has taken care of my little family and made sure we had all we needed. No. This year hasn't gone exactly as planned, but that doesn't mean it was all bad. Thanks so much for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Amy, on your writing success! Yes, good things have happened in 2020! We just need to see the sunshine--or should I say SON shine--through the clouds! God is so good!
DeleteHappy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving to you! It's been a tough year, for sure, but through it all God has been and still is faithful. (I'd love to be in the draw)
ReplyDeleteSo true, Lee-Ann, God is always faithful! I hope you and your family are doing well.
DeleteHappy Thanksgiving! You're in the drawing!
Wonderful post. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. This year rather than cook a big meal we are going to hike with oldest son and afterwards go visit our granddaughter at the window. Praying for end of Covid-19 so can hold her.
ReplyDeleteHiking sounds delightful! And how special to see your granddaughter. She's a baby, I presume? How precious. Praying you can hold her soon!
DeleteHave a lovely day, starting a new Thanksgiving tradition!
Debby, what a beautiful post. Thank you for the reminders of all we have to be thankful for. I am thankful for the many ways God's shown up in our year . . . from giving my family good health, for having lots of interesting conversations with our sons, for His showing me how to make writing happen when everything shut down, for the ways God has provided for our needs, for the gift of family, for my husband's stable job . . . there's so much. Thanks for the reminder to focus on what we have. That's so important for this season we're in!
ReplyDeleteI hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Debby!
Jeanne, I loved reading the things for which you're thankful. A lot of families have enjoyed quality time with their children--a blessing for sure! Good for you being able to write during the shutdown. I stalled for a bit but am now back on track. Also so glad that your husband has a stable job. All my children remained employed, which as you mentioned was a huge blessing.
DeleteHave a wonderful Thanksgiving! I have a feeling 2021 will be a very good year!
Debby, such a beautiful post...and a reminder to be grateful for my many blessings. Yes, to pray continually....in all circumstances. This time has focused me on trusting God. I fail at times, but renew my attitude when reading and repeating treasured Bible verses. Like you mentioned, I’m thankful for all those who sacrifice to protect us and for the blessings of my family, friends, and faith. May your Thanksgiving be a good celebration!
ReplyDeleteSherida, so good to see your comment. Trust in God is so important. I always ask that I can trust Him more...and more...and more. He wants the very best for His children, but I'm sure He's upset with some of the things that are happening in the world. We need to ask forgiveness for our failings and beseech Him to have mercy on all of us and to bring us safely through this pandemic.
DeleteHappy Thanksgiving to you, dear Sherida!
I am thankful for my family and all my friends. Also I am thankful for a God who is always there for me and listens to all my prayers. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I would love to be entered into the drawing for your books as well.
ReplyDelete