After four glorious days of warm, sunny weather, I have the windows open to let in the late harvest evening air. Although we weren't doing anything particular outdoors, it was lovely to have pleasant days, especially for the wedding on Saturday that we attended. Yes, we squeezed in extra company the pastor/professor who performed this wedding of a young lady who has been part of our church family. So, it was a busy and full weekend!
Sunday was the highlight of it all and we began with the race to the shower in the morning! We all made it to church for worship practice and setting up for the turkey meal to follow the service. It was a bit of a chaotic morning - and for any of you who have been part of our ministry, the typical Sunday morning always seems to have a level of challenge with the sound system, copies of music missing or something someone forgot for the meal! But when we all settled down to begin the service, God did take over and met with us in the music and the sharing. It was a joy to focus on what we were thankful for and how God has blessed us as families and a church body in the past months!
Walter loves to preach on Sundays such as Thanksgiving. We usually have a few extra guests along with the faithful in the congregation, plus it is easy to preach when the theme presents itself. This year, Walter shared a different slant on giving thanks, based on Romans 1:20 & 21. In my own perspective, the message was focused on the results of a life lived without being thankful. Those who did not give God glory, who did not acknowledge Him, "nor gave thanks to Him..." began to head in dangerous directions. Why? Because ungratefulness leads to negative, futile and dark thinking. And following this path unchecked leads to sin.
This became illustrated more clearly as Walter took us to Exodus 20 and walked through such thought processes with each of the Ten Commandments. As the verse in Romans stated, if we do not acknowledge and give thanks to the one true God, we will easily slip into allowing "idols" become our objects of worship. If we are not grateful to the Lord, we will easily misuse His name. If we are not thankful, we will not consider the Sabbath important. We will not honour our mother and father and so on...Not being appreciative for what we have will lead to covetousness and stealing. Relationships on all levels will break down. Selfishness and greed and pride will take over as complaining and bitterness replace thankfulness. These were powerful and practical examples.
As we ended the Sunday service and transitioned into our Thanksgiving meal, it was wonderful to have our church family pitching in to set up, serve and clean up. We actually ate a "snack" there and slipped away early to prepare for our family supper to be at 5 pm at our place! Fifteen people ranging in age from 3 up to 94 shared a turkey dinner and all the trimmings. We tried something new this year: I bought a selection of simple gifts and goodies. Then we each chose a number on little pieces of paper with number 15 going first! Each person said what they were thankful for and then they could choose a gift. It was a fun way to focus on our blessings.
By 11 pm the last of the guests headed home and we all crashed for the night.
Today was recovery day. We slept in, watched football and ate leftovers. We had a short phone call with Mark and Amy in Steinbach, who were also watching the tragic Roughrider team get destroyed by Montreal Alouettes while cooking a turkey and awaiting company for supper. Caylea and friends left for Nipawin in the afternoon and Daniel found friends to hang out with.
So, we are left with a few remnants of the weekend lying about the house and some precious memories of Thanksgiving 2014.
Psalm 107:1 "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever."
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