Thanksgiving Thoughts

I think I know someone who is ready for some turkey.

Thanksgiving is a week a way. As a person with Celiac I've never been very found of this holiday. Growing up I didn't like cranberry sauce unless it was the jelly kind in a can, I didn't like sweet potatoes, and I can't understand how someone can serve jello as a said dish and call it a salad. I just wasn't a big fan of Thanksgiving foods, until I went gluten free. Now I like all the foods that are served on this important holiday. I've learned to like cranberries and sweet potatoes, and parts of me miss the stuffing, but there are so many good things that are served on our holiday table that I really get excited about. I love Thanksgiving now because I get to spend it with my sister's family and her kids. We all have the same food allergies so we make a complete allergy free meal that everyone likes. My daughter gets to play with her cousins, which is so fun for me to see because I hardly had any holidays with my cousins. I think another reason why this holiday is such a success is that we've completely redone the menu. 

I stumbled upon this poem in an old children's book that made me rethink the food aspect of Thanksgiving. It's called The First Thanksgiving by Margaret Junkin Preston, you can read it by clicking on the tittle. I'm not sure how historically accurate this poem is and I doubt that it is, but Preston did her homework. She names all the traditional food that the Pilgrims might have uses to celebrates special occasions back in their home country and then list all the foods that William Bradford (the first Governor or Plymouth Rock) states they will use instead that can be found in their new home. I think it is brilliant, and makes complete since, how that Pilgrims used what they could find to give God thanks for their first year of survival. They went against the traditions they were use to because they could no longer eat certain foods, not because they couldn't eat them physically, but because they couldn't find them physically. It makes me wonder if we are doing the original preparers of the first Thanksgiving a dishonor by sticking to the foods we think they ate. Considering they most likely had fish and pheasants instead of turkey, and I really doubt they had sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top. 


So we do things a little differently for our menu then what is traditional by modern standards. We still have our turkey, but it is range free and organic (probably more authentic compared to the turkeys in the stores). We also have cranberries, but not in a can, and something made with sweet potatoes. No stuffing, but we'll have miso squash rolls. No jello as a salad, but we'll have a very healthy salad with fruits or safe nuts made with a light homemade dressing. Maybe a veggie tray for the kids since they like them raw. We'll still have pumpkin pie, but it might be crust-less with tofu whip. My sister might add some salmon because that is what her kids like. It's not too far from the traditional, but it amazes me how some people get so attached to having the same foods every years. I've tried to have Thanksgiving with other family members and they get so upset if they can't have something that can't be made allergy free. When this happened and it happened last year, it made me stop and think about how so many of us put so much stress on the food and about making the food that the true meaning of Thanksgiving is lost. I think if we could go back in time we might see just how nontraditional the first Thanksgiving is compared to our modern standards.

So lets take a lesson form the Pilgrims and form Paul the apostle and give thanks and celebrate all the many ways God has blessed us in the past year and for the hope that we have. "...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Phil 4:11b. So no matter if you've had a difficult year or a great year, give thanks with what you have and be thankful, be content. Don't stress if their won't be any stuffing on the table this year or if you can't have whipped cream on your piece of pie, be thankful for all the things that you have and give thanks to God "...but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." 1 Tim 6:17b. And always "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Phil 4:4