This holiday season! :)

Coming around in this holiday season lets us reflect on what each of them really mean.

We all know the history of Thanksgiving that has to do with the pilgrims and Indians and something with turkeys. Well maybe I don't know a lot about it myself. There's a website you can find through google if you search "history of
Thanksgiving" and it's called wilstar.com. It really goes into depth and has a lot of detail. But the jist(sp?) of Thanksgiving, and please correct me if I'm wrong, is how in 1621 the pilgrims, along with the Indians, who took the Mayflower and were very scarce on food were able to have a feast of what they had. They called it Thanksgiving. Although it wasn't celebrated for a number of years afterwards, it was finally established a national holiday in 1789 by George Washington. Well I missed a whole lot of details in there but I think you can understand it. The moral is how they barely had any food but were able to disperse it between so many people! We should be grateful for what we have every day. Even look at the lives of people all around the world. This past Sunday a man at my church shared the story of when he was in Africa for a missions trip. A couple other missionaries, his wife, and himself treated a bunch of women to a shopping spree. He shared particularly of a woman who had been trying to save money just to get a PENCIL! I think to myself how at my house we have cups full, drawers full, and sometimes some stuffed under the cushions of couches, and this woman is saving every penny she can get for just one. And not only that but she is saving to get a FORK, SPOON, and KNIFE. I think again how at my house in the silverware drawer we have 20-30 of each of those and cabinets full of different designs of dishware! I think I have it hard sometimes when people a couple continents away are trying so hard just to have the simplest of things like a pencil, fork, spoon, or knife. So reflecting on that, we need to be thankful for of course the big things in life but the little ones too!

Then we have Christmas. When it comes to Christmas we look back in the bible and read how Mary and Joseph were blessed with a baby Jesus and he was soon born in a manger. Jesus was a gift to all of us. So it return we are to give to others. It shows in history that Jesus was not really born on December 25th. It might of been sometime in March but for centuries we have celebrated this holiday on December 25th. While we enter in the holiday season, we have to realize what gifts have been given to us and how we can give in return. Also with Thanksgiving, we shouldn't just give thanks on the day. All through the year, just by something as simple as sending a thank you letter to a loved one, can mean a lot!

Finally we have New Years coming our way. Usually we just pay attention to all the celebrations that happen New Years Eve. For instance the annual celebration in Times Square where the ball drops on the countdown to the new year.But this gives us an opportunity to think of ways to make 2011 a great year. Doesn't matter how old you are, or if you're in Jr. high, high school, just into your career, or long into one everyone has a goal they want to go after. Make 2011 worth it or just make this holiday season worth with new beginnings. Some changes may even come your way but I think that's just part of life...