Thanksgiving Reflections
I recently read an article about the Thanksgiving holiday that shared that 52% of people were feeling overwhelming stress to make Thanksgiving “absolutely perfect”. Many said that they didn’t even want to celebrate because of the amount of pressure that they were feeling. It got me thinking about why holidays were created verses what we make them to be.
Thanksgiving was originally a time set aside to celebrate and thank God for the bountiful harvest after a growing season. This time included feasting, joy, laughter, rest, prayer, and community. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays for these very reasons!
So why do so many people feel overwhelmed by the thought of Thanksgiving? As I meditated on this question, I concluded that it’s because it has become less about giving thanks and more about getting approval. Have one or more of these thoughts around the Thanksgiving holiday crossed your mind?
What if the turkey is dry?
My place is too small.
What if they don’t like my stuffing/cranberry sauce/ casserole/gravy/pie?
I can’t handle it if they bring up….
If my dad/mom even mentions ______ I’m going to explode.
How am I going to pay for all this food?
What if I don’t have enough?
My dishes aren’t nice like so and so’s.
My place isn’t decorated like a Pinterest board.
On and on I think we could all go when it comes to desiring others to approve of us, our space, our gifts, and our homes. Instead of being thankful for the life God’s given, the roof that’s over our head, the people that want to be with us and the food (whether boxed, fresh, homemade or delivered) we compare, complain and conversely contribute to critical, thankless moments.
Thanksgiving is not a time to look around to compare your lack to others gain. It’s not a time to compare your home, your cooking, your hosting or your family. Thanksgiving is a time to look around and thank God for the bountiful harvest of your own life. Maybe that’s the problem. Looking around at your own life makes you feel another space of lack, but I challenge you to look again.
What do you see?
A place to lay your head at night.
Breath in your lungs.
Food to eat.
Family/friends to share with.
Endless possibilities for your future.
We don’t need to be Pinterest perfect, we just need to be grateful. Maybe you’re not where you want to be in life, but by giving God grateful spaces we open our hearts to steward what’s in our hands. May this be an encouragement to you to return your Thanksgiving to its original design by seeing the bountiful harvest that is and that will be! Forgo the empty thoughts of not measuring up and instead walk into Thanksgiving day with a confident spirit and a grateful heart!
