Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Thankfulness Grows...Out of Giving

What a bounty of thanks I felt on our day of giving. It truly felt like the day was supposed to. Actually, as soon as we had made our plans, I knew it was going to be a special day.
I had a purpose.

                    Perfect doesn't happen very often.


We were blessed to have some very special friends dine at our table. Gracious.




It's tradition for us to make place cards for each person.
Inside there's a scripture that's chosen escpecially for
them. Something that will encourage.

 


My husband's thoughtfulness took him back to town on a special trip to buy
these flowers for me. (That is something special and something
to be thankful for.)  They were.... PERFECT~


Five kernals of corn. Reminding ourselves of how blessed we are.
 
 
Five Kernels of Corn
by Hezekiah Butterworth
‘Twas the year of the famine in Plymouth of old,
The ice and the snow from the thatched roofs had rolled;
Through the warm purple skies steered the geese o’er the seas,
And the woodpeckers tapped in the clocks of the trees;
And the boughs on the slopes to the south winds lay bare,
and dreaming of summer, the buds swelled in the air.
The pale Pilgrims welcomed each reddening morn;
There were left but for rations Five Kernels of Corn.
Five Kernels of Corn!
Five Kernels of Corn!
But to Bradford a feast were Five Kernels of Corn!
“Five Kernels of Corn! Five Kernels of Corn!
Ye people, be glad for Five Kernels of Corn!”
So Bradford cried out on bleak Burial Hill,
And the thin women stood in their doors, white and still.”
Lo, the harbor of Plymouth rolls bright in the Spring,
The maples grow red, and the wood robins sing,
The west wind is blowing, and fading the snow,
And the pleasant pines sing, and arbutuses blow.
Five Kernels of Corn!
Five Kernels of Corn!
To each one be given Five Kernels of Corn!”
O Bradford of Austerfield hast on thy way,
The west winds are blowing o’er Provincetown Bay,
The white avens bloom, but the pine domes are chill,
And new graves have furrowed Precisioners’ Hill!”
Give thanks, all ye people, the warm skies have come,
The hilltops are sunny, and green grows the holm,
And the trumpets of winds, and the white March is gone,
Five Kernels of Corn!
Five Kernels of Corn!
Ye have for Thanksgiving Five Kernels of Corn!
“The raven’s gift eat and be humble and pray,
A new light is breaking and Truth leads your way;
One taper a thousand shall kindle; rejoice
That to you has been given the wilderness voice!”
O Bradford of Austerfield, daring the wave,
And safe through the sounding blasts leading the brave,
Of deeds such as thine was the free nation born,
And the festal world sings the “Five Kernels of Corn.”
Five Kernels of Corn!
Five Kernels of Corn!
The nation gives thanks for Five Kernels of Corn!
To the Thanksgiving Feast bring Five Kernels of Corn! 
 
 
 
 
 Our day was not perfect because of the food or the decorations.

It was the blessing that came from reaching out to ones who needed someome
to tell their stories to.
Sharing a long, warm hug with a lonely friend.
Playing games and making a trip to the chicken coop
with a friend who just celebrated her 56th birthday,
but lives in an 8 year olds world.

And to be honest.. it was for me. I needed to be needed.
I needed.
And even in my selfishness, I was blessed.
*******************

Thanksgiving is a time to not only count our blessings but a time to share 
what we have.

 
Now we are rich.
And my thankfulness has grown..... out of giving.



Do you have any thoughts that you'd like to share
about your Thanksgiving?
I'd love to hear them.














 
 
 

3 comments:

Margy said...

thank you for posting this blessing!

Tamara said...

You're welcome, Margy. Have a blessed day!

Jeff LeFevre said...

Beautiful pictures! I'd forgotten the poem! We need to read it evert Thanksgiving from now on. I would be a great one to memorize.