Hello. In light of the current, special time of year, I sent this explanation to a Germany friend here of what Thanksgiving means to us. Thought it might help to share about what perspective we'll be celebrating it from here in our home:
"This weekend is an important Holy day, of sorts for us although not commanded in the Bible. It's a time when we remember, as you probably know, when those followers of God wanted freedom to worship and to live with less corruption around them and so they took their families to Holland. After a time, Holland wasn't the right place either and so they set sail for what is now America. My family and I know that not everyone who came to America back then came for the right reasons and some of them wanted to take advantage of the natives and exploit them. All of that aside, I still believe there were those people who sincerely came because they wanted to start a new life and serve God honestly and if their were natives, those good people did not want to take advantage of the natives but to share with them. So, after arriving, those first pilgrims had a terrible winter and suffered. However, some of the natives came to their aid and shared food and resources. The next spring, the natives also taught these settlers how to farm and there was a big crop. So, those seekers after God and after a pure life (they called themselves "Puritans") were both grateful to the natives who helped them and to God for helping them by way of the natives. so, in a spirit of mutual friendship and in thanksgiving to God, they help a great feast and offered thanks to God. So, that was our first Thanksgiving celebration in America. Unfortunately, the holidays as they are now called instead of "Holy Days" are stripped of their actual meaning and so most people joke around about "Turkey Day" since we eat a lot of Turkey and then get sleepy. :) But in truth, it is a celebration offering thanks to God for delievering our ancestors and also a thanks to God today for caring for us and blessing us no matter what hardship we have come through."
Today, I noticed that our family was getting sloppy and undisciplined and I started wondering how I could address the situation. Okay, "a lotta bit" sloppy and undisciplined over the week because we are pretty laid back, overall and so for me to say something means it's gotten pretty bad. Anyway...
As we all talked about it together, my wife and I tag teamed the discussion, so to speak, and began talking to our kids about how we wanted them to develop their life habits, their approach to challenges, and to developing self discipline. Heather and I ended up coming up with "The Temple Technique."
There are four basic level to the temple and we compared them in this manner: Let's say someone realized cleaning up a city park was needed. So, they decided to plan, organize and execute a clean up and renovating project. Level 4 would be those who choose not even to enter the outer courts and so they walk pass by the project and don't get involved. They might gossip about it or whatever but they are not interested in helping. Level 3 would be the "outer courts" and these are the people who are interested enough to volunteer to help. They do whatever that one thing is that they agreed to volunteer for and that's it. Level 2 guys are the "inner court" folks who not only do the work they volunteered for but they also come in and maybe either help set up and/or help tear down. They might even help recruit other volunteers. Now, the Level 1 guys are the ones who enter into the "holy of holies." They dream up the plan, organize it all, get everyone motivated, and then make it happen.
I challenged my kids to try and be "holy of holies" dwellers while admitting that I have spent much of my life in the outer courts and I've also delved into the inner courts quite a bit. Once in awhile I have dwelt in the holy of holies but I think I could do a lot more of this in the future. What about you?