To God Be The Glory

Ray Stannard Baker(David Grayson) once said, ~Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple life... a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year - and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God.~ Let me ask you this question, what does Thanksgiving mean to you? Without a doubt, its a holiday that some, most, or all people enjoy as we spend quality time with family you have or haven't seen for quite some time. A family that is normal as can be when visiting separately, but when brought together craziness and hilarity ensues.

When it comes to past Thanksgivings, what made the festive holiday such an enjoyabe experience for you and your family? If I could venture to guess it would be the endless amounts of food to gorge on would be the humber one answer, second would be family time as you get the 411 on each other's lives, and watching sporting events would be the third, which would be mainly for the guys. Undeniably, when getting together with family that you haven't seen for awhile, there is a certain energy level that tends to rise when family is brought together as you see/hear it by the loud laughter and big smiles among the faces that you don't get to see on a regular basis.

As said before, the endless amounts of food is mainly what each of us look foward to. For some, most, or all of us we prepare our stomachs to gorge/stuff ourselves with such traditional foods like Turkey, Ham, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, and if you're a vegeterian that doesn't eat meat then you get Tofurkey. Being a Filipino, the asian flavor is added into the mix with Filipino foods such as lumpia (egg rolls), pansit, chicken adobo, and many more mouth watering delights. For the question can be asked, is reading this particular Yodaism making you hungry to the point you're thinking about taking a small piece out of the Thanksgiving meal planned for tonight? If so, be careful and if you're caught don't blame me.

If you think about it, the one place that tends to be strictly off limits before or during Thanksgiving is the kitchen. In the cook's or cooks' mind, the kitchen is considered the central military command and if anyting important is needed someone will be sent out with specific orders to retrieve said items or items. Depending on who's cooking the meal, the kitchen is considerded off limits to so called unauthorized personnel who are lingering about to get a bit or at least a taste of something, which is a bad idea trust me on this. We've all tried to sneak a bite/taste and ending up being whacked upside the head with a particular kitchen utensil such as a wooden spoon, spatula, a wooden rolling pin, whatever the object may be for you.

In the beginning of this Yodaism, I asked the question what does thanksgiving mean to you? For me personally, Thanksgiving means giving thanks to God for all the things has done for me in the past, present, and will do for me in the future. He provides me with food to eat every day, a job to pay my expenses as well as a place where I get to spend time and have fun with "my kids." BUT most of all He provided me with family and friends who love and care about me. Ultimately I am thankful for the prayers that he has answered and for those unanswered prayers, I know He will answer them in due time. In the end, on this day of thanks I simply say to God be the Glory, great things he hath done for me and hopefully for you as well.

~HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!~