Thanksgiving in April

It all started last year. April 2013. Our baby was six months old. The weather was horrible. It kept snowing and snowing and snowing and we were trapped indoors with a young baby. We needed something to look forward too. At least in the winter there are holidays to celebrate to distract from the cold and the snow. But here in Spring?? Easter had come and gone. We had nothing to look forward too. 

So we made up a new holiday: Thanksgiving in April. We bought a turkey, invited over the family, and we all crammed into our tiny dining room and living room. Together we sat down and broke bread. I had a six month old baby, and I invited over my entire family. I cleaned, I baked, I colored, I crafted, I raised a child.

And it was wonderful. Just having that something to plan, to look forward too, raised the spirits of everyone. We could squeeze together as a family and talk and laugh and eat in the middle of a very snowy April. 

Cookie-ception

So around comes April 2014. The weather is less snowy, but still cold. And I have this desire, this ache to gather with my family once again and just give thanks. Give thanks for the returning birds, for a healthy child, for a family who loves me. So once again, we planned Thanksgiving in April. We bought a turkey, invited over the entire family, and we all crammed into my tiny living room and dining room. 

Leftover pecan pie

This time I wanted the focus to be on God, on giving thanks to Him in all things and for all things. I put together a few Bible verses and tucked one at each place setting. I asked them to share what they were thankful for. As we ate dinner, my family would read those Bible verses aloud, one by one. 

And I could feel it inside, a warming from the inside out. A joy. A love. A gratefulness. A gratefulness towards a loving and kind God. To a God who has blessed me so completely with a great family who loves the Lord. 

Throwing this dinner involved some work, but it was so worth it. To see my smiling family gathered around reading Bible verses aloud, proclaiming His goodness, giving thanks for His blessings. Thanksgiving shouldn't just be something we celebrate once a year. Stopping, pausing, Selah, is something we need in our lives on a day to day basis. Our Lord deserves our gratitude and praise on a day to day basis. Not just once a year! We need to make it a focus, to train our minds to see His good. 

For me, celebrating Thanksgiving in April is just a small way to keep my mind focused on being thankful. A reminder that hey, November has long been forgotten and is still a long way off, but we can, and should, stop and give thanks. 

I forgot to take pictures of the fam :/ Here instead a just a few of the dishes

Do you remember to give thanks to God in the day to day?? If so, how does this look for you?? If not, what is one thing you can plan today to make gratitude your focus??