“for I have learned to be content in any circumstance. I have experienced times of need and times of abundance. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of contentment, whether I go satisfied or hungry, have plenty or nothing. I am able to do all things through the one who strengthens me.” Phillipians 4:11-13
In September 1620, a small ship called The Mayflower left Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers—an assortment of religious separatists seeking a new home where they could freely practice their faith and other individuals lured by the promise of prosperity and land ownership in the "New World." After treacherous and brutally uncomfortable trip that lasted 66 days, over two months in the small ship, they landed in America.
Throughout that first brutal winter, most of the colonists remained on board the ship, where they suffered from exposure, scurvy and outbreaks of contagious disease. Only half of the Mayflower’s original passengers and crew that sailed from England lived to see their first New England spring. In March, the remaining 50 of so settlers moved ashore. That is when they received an astonishing visit from a member of the Abenaki tribe who greeted them in English.
Several days later, he returned with another Native American, Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe who had been kidnapped by an English sea captain and sold into slavery before escaping to London and returning to his homeland on an exploratory expedition. Squanto taught the Pilgrims, weakened by malnutrition and illness, how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish in the rivers and avoid poisonous plants. He also helped the settlers forge an alliance with the Wampanoag, a local tribe, which would endure for more than 50 years and tragically remains one of the sole examples of harmony between European colonists and Native Americans.
In November 1621, after the Pilgrims’ first corn harvest proved successful, those 50-60 survivors who saw their love ones die and endured indescribable hardships and tragedies, had a celebratory feast and invited their Native American allies. Now remembered as American’s “first Thanksgiving”
Thanksgiving is not a season or a holiday, it is a condition of the heart.
When you maintain a thankful heart, when you maintain an attitude of gratitude, when you realize that everything you have is a gift given to you, you lose feeling that you deserve or are entitled to things.
You no longer feel you are owed or deserve anything.
Envy disappears, jealousy disappears, hoarding disappears, selfishness disappears, and the list goes on. Greed and materialism have no control over you.
And you become content
You become at peace with your life.
You are satisfied with who you are and what you have.
You become generous.
When you are thankful for the people around you, you love more.
My family, I pray the simple pray over you that you will check the “Thanksgiving” condition of your heart, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share you prayer requests in the comment box below.
My wife Nancy and I our pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in our lives and that of our family and ODC. Please partner and support us and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation now for next year, or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
