So Much More Than Turkey Day

"Some hae meat and cannae eat,
And some cae eat but want it.
But I hae meat, and I cae eat,
And tae the Lord be thankit"
~Scottish blessing

"Happy Turkey Day"- in my mind, that term conjures up some idea of a fat turkey, with those horrid white stockings, grinning while he sits safely on the grocery-store sign as his brethren are snapped up and carried home to be stuffed and roasted. It's a term that sounds completely animal and vulgar. "Happy Turkey Day!" I mean really! "Turkey Day" belongs in Golden Corral and other greasy, gluttonous restaurants like that! :)
This beautiful day is "Thanksgiving Day"- a day set aside by our forefathers to worship and thank God for all his bounteous blessings. Read this quote by George Washington:

"Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be."
- George Washington, From the Proclamation of National Thanksgiving

Notice there is no mention of eating turkey in that passage! :) To have a "Turkey Day" in November is absolutely no different than having a Hamburger Day in March. Can you imagine that? "Um...boss...I'm taking Hamburger Day off next week. You should too...the post office is stopping for the day!"
Yet for "Thanksgiving" the whole country practically stops. Why? I can assure you that if it was merely for a chance to stuff yourself with a feast, companies would be less lenient about giving their employees the day off. No. It is because our country in the past, and, I hope, many Americans now, realize the value in setting aside a day of rest to thank the Lord with. Sadly, with too many it has become merely a day of laziness and gluttony. Sorry, but I have to say it like it is! In our home, we always enjoy the huge Thanksgiving meal, and the change of pace, but the underlying reason for it all is remembered, recognized, and renewed. We take this job of giving thanks seriously! :) I know some of our friends don't much like Abraham Lincoln, but you all must realize that the quote below is so true and fitting.

"We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us."
-Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation

I must agree with Mr. Lincoln. As a country we have been intoxicated with unbroken success, and we no longer feel the necessity of thanking the Lord for all his mercies. Thus the gradual decline to turning this holiday in "Turkey Day". So let's change it! There are 43 followers of this blog. And a few more who read it! If you read this post, I challenge you to spend some real time thanking God for all his blessings, and of them all, most importantly, for Jesus Christ. ~Rachel

~Psalm 100~
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Holdidayish Thoughts! Yay!

I am so glad that it is "That" time of year again! The holidays are fast approaching! Yay! Actually, they have crept up on us this year! Yesterday, after helping the Wilsons with their pick-up day, Mama was driving home and casually reminded me that "Daniel's graduation was two weeks from today! " (yesterday now) And Thanksgiving is Thursday! We've had such a blessed year! The Lord has been so faithful! I can't believe that this is the second Thanksgiving in this lovely home! We are all getting excited! Our pigs are back from the butcher as a tidy array of sausage, bacon, and the like, our harvest of sweet potatoes was bountiful, and we still have, (despite my dire calculations) plenty of my pickles in the cabinets! Dad and a friend have worked tirelessly to get our woodstove up and working, and we have maplewood from a job to burn in it... Dad still has polish under his nails from making the stove all black and shiny!
I have begun making presents for everyone in our family and some friends! I make it a challenge to try to spend the least money I can, and come up with lovely gifts! My standards for homemade gifts are rather high. When one hears about a "homemade Christmas" we tend to think of pencil cases made out of a felt-covered tin can, or a hand stitched pillow that will come apart the first time anyone dares to lean their weary head against it. But I have alot of fun planning things that are actually worthwhile! Last year I illustrated a book of my poems for Mama and gave that to her. The year before I made several books of words to praise songs for Dad since he has a hard time sometimes without them. :) Dad is probably the hardest to find something for. He always tells me with a twinkle in his eye that all he wants are "peace, hope, and love" so one year I made three heart-shaped ornaments and embroidered, "peace", "hope", and "love" them. Now he must give me other ideas! :) I have already done something for Sarah that I dare not say here because this is her blog too. Daniel has put me in an absolute pickle, for I must come up with three fabulous presents in 5 weeks! (grad. birthday, and Christmas)
I am so excited about Advent! It is one of my favorite seasons of the year! The word literally means "waiting" and is a period of four weeks before Christmas. We will fill ya'll in on that later! It is so exciting! I have been asked by Mrs. Mickey to plan out the cooking day for Daniel's graduation! Fun! (At least, I hope so! Alot of responsability! Pray for me because if I can't do it, all ya'll will go hungry! ;) Dad has almost relented from his rule of "No Christmas music before Thanksgiving". We call it "practicing" and then sing it as much as we want since such a thing is necessary to sound great during the holidays! :) We still have venison left from last fall! And a hunter just came and dropped off a venison ham for us- fresh! All these guys are butterin' us up since ours is the only land they aren't allowed to hunt on in this section! We have no intention of letting strange rednecks with mean hounds run ragged all over here and chase our deer off, but we enjoy the venison they give us in the fall, and the barbeque in the summer! :) Well, I must go put Abby to bed! (Duty calls!) Hope this rambling wasn't too unseasonal! Oh! Also, am I getting old? (17?) At the turkey pick-up day, someone asked me, "Oh! Are you Scott's wife?" (the father of Morgan who is older than me?) I was nearly dumbstruck but found it amusing! :) Goodnight all you bloggy-people out there! And have a blessed Thanksgiving! "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good- His mercy endures forever!"
(And maybe by next post I'll have a pilgrim poem made up or something! (I love writing poems!)

Excitedly,
Rachel