HAPPY THANKSGIVING

According to the Internet: Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, presently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, has been an annual tradition in the United States since 1863. It did not become a federal holiday until 1941. Thanksgiving was historically a religious observation to give thanks to God, but is now primarily identified as a secular holiday.

The First Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to God for helping the pilgrims survive the brutal winter. The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days providing enough food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Indians.

The traditional Thanksgiving menu often features turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. Americans may eat these foods on modern day Thanksgiving, but the first feast did not consist of these items.

On the first feast turkey was any type of fowl that the pilgrims hunted.

Pumpkin pie wasn't on the menu because there were no ovens for baking, but they did have boiled pumpkin.

Cranberries weren't introduced at this time.

Due to the diminishing supply of flour there was no bread of any kind.

The foods included in the first feast included duck, geese, venison, fish, lobster, clams, swan, berries, dried fruit, pumpkin, squash, and many more vegetables.

The National Turkey Federation estimated that 46 million turkeys—one fifth of the annual total of 235 million consumed in the United States in 2007—were eaten at Thanksgiving.

The cranberry is one of only three fruits—the others are the blueberry and the Concord grape—that are entirely native to North American soil, according to the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed 2,020 pounds and measured just over 12 feet long.

Many people we know had a bad year, lost their job or had to sell their home. Like the colonists, let's look to the future and give thanks.

Here is a lovely prayer I found:

Oh God,
When I have food, help me remember the hungry;
When I have work, help me remember the jobless;
When I have a warm home, help me remember the homeless;
When I am without pain, help remember those who suffer.
Make me concern enough to help, by word and deed those who cry out for what we take for granted.

On Thanksgiving Day, we count our blessings.

I am grateful to be healthy and have wonderful friends at the PFS.
I am grateful to be able to vist with my son and his family.
I am grateful that my mother who has been so sick all year is still around to share the holidays with her family.
I am grateful that my son-in-law and daughter-in-law finally found jobs.
I am grateful for my husband's love and support.
And I am so grateful to have four books published and enjoying great reviews.

And I want to share my joy at just discovering that Prescription For Trust is in stock at amazon.com. Yeah!!!!

What are you grateful for? Share with us.