{"id":20776,"date":"2018-11-22T21:20:10","date_gmt":"2018-11-23T02:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=20776"},"modified":"2018-11-22T21:20:10","modified_gmt":"2018-11-23T02:20:10","slug":"thanksgiving-memories-all-good-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=20776","title":{"rendered":"Thanksgiving Memories – All Good Gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2006<\/a><\/p>\n

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.\u00a0<\/em> \u2013 James 1:17<\/a><\/p>\n

[Adapted from the Archives]<\/p>\n

For most of 20 years, we lived in\u00a0North Africa\u00a0where a Thanksgiving holiday was a foreign concept. \u201cEid el Shukr\u201d (\u201cFeast of Thanks\u201d in Arabic) was understood but not a day set aside. We, along with other expat Americans, brought Thanksgiving with us and invited our local friends into the experience. On the surface, American Thanksgiving has pretty much three constant components \u2013 food, family, and football.<\/p>\n

Back in the States, the old traditions are changing and yet stay sweetly familiar. My Mom, who always laid out an incredible Southern-style feast on the kitchen counter at home in Georgia,\u00a0is no longer with us. As with some of you, I\u2019m sure, I miss her still every day and how she lavished love on us through these family times together. Our children are grown now and establishing their own traditions with more families and friends added into the mix. Each year, we find ourselves re-working our own traditions as well.<\/p>\n

Thanksgiving is again, for us, all about food, family, and football\u2026but there\u2019s also another element\u2026faith<\/strong>\u2026 I am grateful every day for the kindnesses of God and those he\u2019s placed in our lives. Celebrating Thanksgiving allows us to put an exclamation point on being grateful. It\u2019s not just about a table full of food, although food is clearly a focal point. Thanksgiving, even as a national holiday and not a religious one, focuses our sight beyond ourselves. There is an object in Thanksgiving beyond ourselves.<\/p>\n

Over 30 years ago, a funky little Broadway musical was turned into a film \u2013 Godspell<\/em><\/a>. It was an adaptation of the life of Jesus according to the Gospel of Matthew. At that time, I was in the season of life that young people pass through of searching out what exactly I believed. It wasn\u2019t going well at that time. Praise God, He did not forget me during those days when I\u00a0had all but forgotten Him. Watching the film Godspell <\/em>was one of the occasions God used to wake me up. There\u2019s\u00a0a wonder\u00a0and delight\u00a0in the\u00a0young followers of Jesus\u00a0in the musical. It reminded me of what I had once with God\u2026and what could be again.<\/p>\n

All the songs in the\u00a0musical Godspell<\/em> are lovely. Composer and Lyricist, Stephen Schwartz, beautifully captured some of Jesus\u2019 teaching and the depth of love and\u00a0rightness between Him, His followers, and creation, in general. All Good Gifts, <\/em>adapted from an old hymn, is one such song and is a\u00a0pure and proper doxology\u00a0of praise for Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

Worship with me.\u00a0 [Here\u2019s the YouTube video<\/a> from Godspell to give you the melody.]<\/p>\n

All Good Gifts<\/em><\/a>*
\nWe plow the fields and scatter the good seed on the land..
\nBut it is fed and watered by God\u2019s almighty hand..
\nHe sends us snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain\u2026
\nThe breezes and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain\u2026<\/p>\n

All good gifts around us
\nAre sent from Heaven above
\nThen thank the Lord, thank the Lord for all his love\u2026<\/p>\n

We thank thee then, O Father, for all things bright and good,
\nThe seedtime and the harvest, our life our health our food,
\nNo gifts have we to offer for all thy love imparts
\nBut that which thou desirest, our humble thankful hearts!<\/p>\n

All good gifts around us
\nAre sent from Heaven above..
\nThen thank the Lord, thank the Lord for all his love..<\/p>\n

I really wanna thank you Lord!
\nAll good gifts around us
\nAre sent from Heaven above..
\nThen thank the Lord, oh thank the Lord for all his love..<\/p>\n

\"2011<\/a>Food \u2013 Family Favorites\u00a0in Mom\u2019s Kitchen<\/strong>\"2011<\/a><\/p>\n

Football \u2013 on T.V. or out on the street with cousins and friends<\/strong>\"2010<\/a><\/p>\n

Family \u2013 Time together\u2026savoring every minute<\/strong>\"2011<\/a><\/p>\n

Happy Thanksgiving\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh\u2026just in case Thanksgiving is a struggle\u2026and it isn\u2019t all\u00a0happy family fun\u2026I pray you take courage<\/a> and rein in your heart to remember that God sees and loves you. We can be a Thanksgiving blessing to each other\u2026if you\u2019ve read this far\u2026you are a blessing to me. Wish you were at our table\u2026maybe one day you will be. You are definitely welcome at God\u2019s table.<\/p>\n

YouTube Video – Take Courage<\/em> – Kristene DiMarco<\/a><\/p>\n

*Lyrics and Story Behind the Song \u2013\u00a0All Good Gifts<\/em> (Godspell)<\/a><\/p>\n

YouTube Video \u2013 All Good Gifts<\/em> (Godspell 1990)<\/a><\/p>\n

YouTube Video Clip \u2013 All Good Gifts<\/em> (Godspell original cast 1973)<\/a><\/p>\n

Wikipedia article on original hymn\/lyric \u2013 We Plough the Fields and Scatter<\/em> (1862)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.\u00a0 \u2013 James 1:17 [Adapted from the Archives] For most of 20 years, we lived in\u00a0North Africa\u00a0where a Thanksgiving holiday was a foreign concept. \u201cEid el Shukr\u201d (\u201cFeast … Continue reading Thanksgiving Memories – All Good Gifts<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[810,3396,2126,1618,1067,794,147,50,809,903,825,33,5130,317,263,2611,888,432,1456,619,610,32],"tags":[1845,265,7,704,2059,1836,1844,977,6614,1843,4267],"class_list":["post-20776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-good-gifts","category-america","category-community","category-courage","category-cross-cultural","category-faithfulness","category-family-2","category-god","category-godspell","category-grace","category-holidays","category-inspired","category-legacy","category-lessons-learned","category-lives-full-of-god","category-love-your-neighbor","category-memories","category-music","category-steadfast-love","category-thanksgiving","category-thanksgiving-or-gratefulness","category-walk-with-god","tag-all-good-gifts","tag-faith","tag-family","tag-food","tag-football","tag-god","tag-godspell","tag-kristene-dimarco","tag-take-courage","tag-thanksgiving","tag-traditions"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pauPAB-5p6","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20776"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20778,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20776\/revisions\/20778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}