Belated: Thanksgiving Overtures

Overture - definition(s): a proposal or question; a new relationship.
Thanksgiving - definition(s): to give thanks, particularly to God; Thanksgiving Day.

So here is is another year gone by since the last Thanksgiving...so much has happened since my last TG (Thanksgiving) post.  Wow.

This year, in thinking about the upcoming holidays and all that they bring, I found myself thinking slightly differently about them than I normally do... which is why I posted the definition (as I understand it) of 'overture'.  These differences have particularly affected my view of Thanksgiving.  Normally, I could somewhat say that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, but not for the reasons that most people might imagine.  I like how Thanksgiving seems so easygoing to me.  It isn't very demanding.  I don't have to rush around wondering who I can afford to buy gifts for... only to find [and feel guilty about] I'm unable to find something that I think they might like and enjoy for plenty of time to come.  My parents don't expect me home.  Furthermore, for several years past, my parents (and I) never really made a "big deal" about Thanksgiving.  We might have turkey -- on sandwiches.  I liked that. 

But now, I am married.  I live in my own home, with my own husband, and I find myself rather disgusted with how we've treated Thanksgiving.  Myself included.  Thanksgiving began because the Pilgrims came over on the Mayflower.  They were so thankful and grateful that they were even alive after their trip to the Americas, and then getting through their time here so far safely.  They decided to have a grand celebration in honor of the gifts God had given them.  Including life itself, and the freedom to worship Him how they chose.  We have come a long way from Plymouth Rock.  We have also come a long way from that gratefulness we once felt as a people.  Since when do we not thank God for the very breath we breathe?  And I mean truly thank Him... not just some random prayer your pastor or family reminded you to say.  Personally, I am the type that I get so caught up in the family being around the table and trying to squeeze through the crowd to get to the dinner table, this rarely comes to mind prior to "saying grace".  We're truly kidding ourselves.

So... if that is what I think of myself on Thanksgiving... if that admittal is true (which it is) then you can imagine what I think of Thanksgiving itself.  None of us are as thankful as we should be.  Furthermore, we cannot even maintain such a level of gratefulness on a daily basis.  There.  Now I've gone and done it.  You are now wondering what the point is of this silly tradition.  Unless, of course, you are a diehard grandparent who views this as a time to be super thankful for an opportunity to drive the rest of us crazy and bend us to your will...MWA HAHAHAHA... Okay, so maybe I took that one too far. 

At this point, I'm sure you are wondering what the point of Thanksgiving is to me.  I guess in some aspects, it serves as a reminder to be thankful... but it also saddens me that I see so much "fake" gratefulness in the world.  I am thankful for the world around me... for everything that I have.  For my husband.  My friends.  But I also view this as a day of caution.  I wish I saw it in another light, and perhaps some day I will.  But in the meantime, I have to beg you all, to be grateful.

TGIF (ThanksGiving I Facts):

• Every couple days, I wash dishes -- BY HAND.  I'm more appreciative of them because of this.  I love those dishes.
• Each week, I wash my clothes, and sometimes end up drying them over the tub because the complex dryers don't work properly.  I'm happy I have plenty of plastic hangers for this.
• I used the vacuum a week and a half ago.  I'm no longer coughing from the cat litter Drew accidentally spilled.
• Every  month, I spend over an hour cleaning my 10 gallon fish-tank and then re-decorating it.  In return, I have a happy fish named Sunny who follows me around the house with his eyes and gets excited when I come through the door...even rushing to the side of the tank to greet me.
• We bathe our cats at least once monthly.  They get wet and they hate it, but I love spending time with them.  This makes us a family just as much as brushing them to sleep does.
• I married a goofball.  I laugh every day.  Sometimes my laughter is mean.  But it's still laughter.  (I'll never let Drew forget some of the things I've laughed at, so maybe the fact that I laughed will make up for it.)