Canceling Thanksgiving

With some states shutting down again and others feeling like a shut-down is imminent, and being told how many people we can have over, or if we can have anybody over at all, it feels like maybe the best thing to do is to cancel Thanksgiving this year. I feel your frustration.

While Thanksgiving is going to look different for all of us depending on where you live, I want to encourage you to not give up on the holiday. Find a way to make it work, even if it’s just for those who live in your home. Thanksgiving is too important of a holiday to miss. Satan would like nothing better than for us to miss this holiday altogether.

Thanksgiving is about 2 Things

Thanksgiving is about two things. It’s about setting aside a day to focus on our blessings and give thanks to God for all he has blessed us with. Secondly, it’s about spending time with family and friends and sharing with them how grateful we are that they are in our lives. We all know we should show our gratitude all year long, but with the busyness of life, it’s nice to have an entire day set aside to allow us the time to be grateful.

So even if it’s just the people or the person who lives in your home, make it special. Still make a turkey or a turkey breast, make some mashed potatoes and gravy, and all the fixings that make Thanksgiving special for your family. If you’re not a pie fan, like me, give these pumpkin bars by Pioneer woman a try. They’re amazing!

Setting the Table

Set a beautiful table, light a candle, and play soft piano music in the background. You don’t have to spend a lot. You can see from my table last year that I used paper plates and a plastic table cloth and just some decor items I had in the house. There’s something special about sitting down at a beautiful table.

Sometime during the meal, spend a few moments sharing what you are thankful for. It doesn’t have to be long and drawn out. Before we pray, we simply go around the table and say what we are most thankful for this year. The kids usually say something quick and easy while the adults may say something that’s on their heart that’s a little longer. It doesn’t matter how long or short it is; it simply matters that you took the time to be thankful.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Psalm 100:4

Thanksgiving Fun

We like to spread Thanksgiving into the entire week. We got to our library and get all the Thanksgiving books we can find. We just took back our last haul of Thanksgiving books that we have read the last two weeks. I think we got all the good ones. These were the ones that were left when we went this week. The week leading up to Thanksgiving and the week of Thanksgving, we tried to read at least one Thanksgiving book every day.

We also get Thanksgiving crafts to do during the week. Hobby Lobby is my go-to place for holiday crafts. I also bought Thanksgiving place mats for the kids to color on Thanksgiving while they are waiting for the food to finish up.

Don’t Cancel Thanksgiving

Don’t cancel Thanksgiving this year because it feels like you’re being pressured to skip it. Hold the line and celebrate this important family holiday with whoever you are allowed to celebrate with. Choose to make the most of it whether that’s with one other person or twenty.

If you liked this post, check out Don’t Let This Holiday Pass You By.