Thanksgiving Traditions

It was early morning on Thanksgiving day 2008, when I was woken up by His voice.

"Meet with me.  Talk with me.  Sit with me."

Maybe not everyone believes God speaks to you.  And perhaps He speaks to everyone differently, but He was most certainly calling to my heart that morning.  I remember trying to ignore it, but I couldn't go back to sleep and figured I might as well start my day.  I remember spending most of that morning in prayer having some honest moments with Him, exposing my real thoughts and feelings. At the time, I was sitting in the reality that everyone around me seemed to be having babies and announcing pregnancies while I was left waiting, hoping and wondering if it would ever happen to us.

I didn't know then, but I was pregnant.  I was carrying life inside of me during those heart-wrenching conversations with God and I loved that He knew what He had already done before I ever had a clue.

Since that Thanksgiving seven years ago now, it's become a tradition.  I don't set my alarm or plan it out.  He wakes me up well before dawn, and I sit and meet with Him.  I put on some music, I make a cup of coffee, I write in my journal all of the things I am thankful for, and I read something from His word.  

This year, I ended up reading the chapters in Matthew where Jesus gives His famous Sermon on the Mount.  It was full of reminders on how we are called to live and love others.  It gave me peace in all of the unsettled places in my spirit with all of the hate and terror and danger that continues to grow in this world.  It convicted me on how much I really don't love or care for my neighbor, the lost, the poor and needy.  That if I'm angry with my brother I might as well have committed murder.  That I have nothing to worry about because He knows what I need before I do.  If someone asks something of me, to do it and then some. In a world so full of opinions and fears, the political loudness that never seems to never go away on social media, the words of Jesus are so simple really:

Love Him.

Love others.

I love that each year my day begins with a wake up call from Jesus.  It will always be my favorite way to begin a Thanksgiving day.