May This Thanksgiving Day Bring Joy and Awareness of God's Blessings to All Around the World!

 Thanksgiving Proclamation

 of 1865

It has seemed to me fit and proper that the gifts of God should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens...to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.

Thank you Lord, for the sheer joy of wanting to get up and help the world go around--Roxie Gibson

Psalm 136

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

His love endures forever.

2 Give thanks to the God of gods.

His love endures forever.

3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords:

His love endures forever...

Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for the autumn mist,

A sunrise giving earth a kiss,

A spider web all drenched with dew

That sparkles when the light shines through.

I'm thankful for a forest green.

The singing of a silver stream,

The red and orange of maple trees

That softly drop their dying leaves.

I'm thankful for the evening's glow,

A fire slowly burning low,

For patterned geese against the sky

That honk their brief and faint goodbye.

I'm thankful for a harvest full

Of fruit that on strong branches pull.

For grain to make our daily bread

And all the bounties that we're fed.

I'm thankful for this time of year

That we can share with friends most dear.

And for a Father full of love

Who showers blessings from above.

--LouAnn Mandzunk, Custer, Washington

~~~

Our Heritage

A National Prayer

Thomas Jefferson

Almighty God, 

Who has given us this good land for our heritage,

 we humbly beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will. 

Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners.

Save us from violence, discord and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way.

 Defend our liberties and fashion into one united people the multitude brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues.

Endow with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in Thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that through obedience to Thy law, we must show forth Thy praise among the nations of the earth.

In time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and, in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in Thee to fail; 

all of which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Just the word thanksgiving prompts the spirit of humility. Genuine gratitude to God for His mercy, His abundance, His protection. His smile of favor. Life simplified itself--Charles R. Swindoll

Reflect upon your present blessings of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes of which all men have some--Charles Dickens

On earth, join all ye creatures to extol Him first, Him last, Him midst, and without end.--John Milton

The Lord gives His blessing when He finds the vessel empty. --Thomas Kempis

From Ideals Thanksgiving Vol.54, No. 5 1997

copyright IDEALS publications Inc.

"O Lord! that lends me life,

Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness!"

--William Shakespeare

It's a reciprocal time of year... time to remember God is Indeed in Control!

Even if we can't feel His Presence...

God Bless Us All

Gabby

Happy Thanksgiving - Enjoy Cold Comfort by Kathleen Gerard - And Give ThanksC

Great-Aunt Minnie was the last of a dying breed— literally. She had never married and had long outlived every member of her immediate family. I was an only child and, with both of my parents now gone, Aunt Minnie, who was actually my father’s aunt, was a last vestige of an immediate blood-line family for me, and vice-versa. I found myself clinging to her more and more tightly as the years went on. 
She was like a rare and treasured antique, one that required continued care and maintenance, and I was eager to help preserve her longevity— even if it meant I’d have to muster more patience than readily available to my good nature. 
Aunt Minnie was a woman of great contradiction. One part of her— the part that was never without her Smartphone and had a propensity for blogging— was updated for the 21st century. 
While the other part was steeped in the tenets of The Old World. It would’ve been nice, and it certainly would’ve made my life a lot easier, if the two worlds could’ve overlapped someplace in between evoking Aunt Minnie’s belief in contemporary American supermarkets. “Too many germs,” she’d told me. “And the way the world is today, I can’t afford to take any chances. And I want to know who I’m buying from, so if they foul things up, I can go back and hit the stu-nod over the head with my cane...”

~~~

Cold Comfort

By Kathleen Gerard

I believe Thanksgiving, more than any other holiday, is used to bring families together...at least that is the way it was in my family in early years, while my mother was still living... But what if you only have two family members left to celebrate? Would you still plan a big event? Well you can be sure that Aunt Minnie would, even if she was now in her mid-nineties!

Gateway arch over Atwells
 Avenue. La Pigna sculpture,
 a traditional symbol
 of welcome, abundance
 and quality,
hangs from the center.
~~~

“Be back in an hour,”
Aunt Minnie said, handing
me a shopping list longer
 than my arm.
 “I don’t want to be late
for my appointment
at the chiropodist.”
~~~

Picture it... It's coming up toward Thanksgiving weekend and Aunt Minnie's only living relative, photojournalist Anna Maria, "A.M." LaRusa has come to Federal Hill, a small area which is mostly Italian-American, in Rhode Island to share the holiday with her only living relative... 

Like Sophia from the Golden Girls, Aunt Minnie holds to traditional ways of preparing meals...by using the individual small shops that provide specialties, rather than going to the large one-stop-shopping most of us use... Of course, A.M. is not thrilled about her latest mission: to go to these various shops, walking and pushing a shopping cart, get everything needed and be back in one hour...

I might have only been 32 years-old, but I had lived long enough to realize that Aunt Minnie must’ve been doing something right to have lived, relatively healthy, on the planet for nine and a half decades, long before the advent of hand sanitizer, maybe even antibiotics. But her resistance to the concept of one-stop shopping would have me traipsing all over Federal Hill, a tiny enclave nestled in downtown Providence, Rhode Island where Aunt Minnie had lived— in the same house— her whole life. I’d have to hurry, as her list would have me stopping at little old-fashioned grocers and specialty stores tucked on side-streets in order to gather what she needed to assemble her Thanksgiving Day feast… and all in an hour. Not an easy task.

I had been on a photo assignment in Iraq, so I hadn’t been back to see Aunt Minnie for almost a three month stretch. It was a longer absence than usual. As I dragged her grudging shopping cart behind me along Atwells Avenue, brittle fall leaves scuffling under my feet, I took note of how much the neighborhood had changed throughout the years. When I was a kid, Federal Hill was a small, repressed community, home to poor, immigrant Italians proudly sporting red, white and green flags everywhere.

But in the years that I had studied photography at R.I.S.D, aka the Rhode Island School of Design— and stopped over to have dinner with Aunt Minnie once a week and do a couple of loads of laundry— it had slowly started to experience a resurgence. In the years since I had graduated, it had morphed into an upscale, quarter-mile square neighborhood still deemed as Little Italy— but of late, the world of the past and that of the present had started to collide.

Upscale international eateries, high-end trattorias, pasticcerias, gelaterias, as well as exclusive fashion boutiques and art galleries, had been popping up everywhere. Places such as these were not on my radar that morning, as Aunt Minnie had sent me on a mission to find the old world in the new. I followed her shopping list, which she’d organized so that I could make all the stops in the most efficient use of time...

The pasticceria was mobbed and infused with the scent of espresso and warm, fresh-baked bread and cookies. I weaved my way through the crowd and ripped a ticket from a dispenser on top of the counter. It was set alongside a tray filled with samples of cookie and cake crumbles. I helped myself and while my palate detected the crunchy sweetness of a chocolate dipped, almond biscotti, I looked at my ticket. Number 776. The electronic tote-board climbed to 770. I checked my watch. I’d already used up thirty-eight minutes on my first two errands. With six more people in front of me on the line, I hoped I could finish up here, get those fill-its at the fish store...

~~~

This is a lovely, heartwarming short story that brings you the touch of the holiday and the importance of family and love.

A.M. will be caught off-guard when a former beau is discovered to be a town resident now and owner of one of those little shops she visited...

There is no major plot, of course, just a fun story with wonderful characters and written with the setting chosen full of the old brought to us by Aunt Minnie who serves the full tradition course-after-course Italian meal that will take those in attendance all day to eat slowly and enjoy... 

Gerard has a talent for injecting humor in the most unexpected places and providing chuckles just for the pure pleasure of it...for example, have you ever gone to a chiropodist??? 😁😁

Take a little time out of your busy day or week and spend it with Aunt Minnie, A.M....plus one... It is a delightful tale of thanksgiving...one in which all of us can share! Highly recommended.

GABixlerReviews

Kathleen Gerard writes across genres. Her work has been widely published in magazines, journals and anthologies - and has been awarded and nominated for many prizes including The Saturday Evening Post "Great American Fiction" Prize, The Mark Twain House Humor Prize and the Faulkner-Wisdom Prize. Several of Kathleen's essays have been broadcast on National Public Radio (NPR). Her woman-in-jeopardy novel, IN TRANSIT, won The New York Book Festival - "Best Romantic Fiction" category. 

To learn more about Kathleen, visit: www.kathleengerard.blogspot.com

We met Kathleen via her book, The Thing Is...

If you didn't read my review, do check it out now!

Being Thankful Today..For the Day, For my Readers, .For Family and Friends, For the Almighty God...

Thanksgiving Dinner Poem, Song and Prayer

Sing the following to the same tune, We Gather Together...

Our table is set now; great food you can bet now.
It's Thanksgiving Day, and we're ready to eat;
All those near and dear us are here today to cheer us.
This dinner is a winner, a wonderful treat.

It's time to be thankful for all that God gives us;
Dear Lord, we are grateful; Dear God, hear our prayer.
It's You we are praising; our voices we are raising;
Bless us and bless this food; keep us safe in your care.

By Joanna Fuchs
http://www.poemsource.com/

Thanks to Writers, Readers of Book Readers Heaven...and One Writer in Particular...May You Think of Him Today Too!

Thanks to all of you who have visited Book Readers Heaven this year... Both writers and readers have made my life complete and emotionally full...through books and sharing... Thanks to Charles Anderson, Lee Harmon and others who have been willing to stand up to my sometimes deep questions on their books and respond honestly and openly... There have been so many who have shared their issues and goals through their wonderful books. But, I think this book was probably the one most deeply felt...in a strange, but, for me, quite reasonable response since I had experienced job burnout, humiliation and anger during my last years of employment...

When I read this man's story, I wrote my review.  If you haven't read it, please click over and do so...

Black Dad--White Dad: The James Womack Story "Where Is it?" is What I Want to Know!

Since I haven't been able to get over my anger for how I was treated by officials at the place where I worked, I reacted on behalf of this writer. Why wasn't there anger in his book?!

He wrote back to me after he read my review...

Hi Glenda,

Wow, Wow, Wow, Your review left me speechless with tears running down my cheeks. You brought back memories that vacated my brain years ago.  To answer your question of where is the hate, I have to say the “no response” it is a learned response.  I observed my father’s face each time Mr. Sampson brought him moonshine.   Dad “Smiled” and vacated the premise.  Any show of emotions would have cost him his life. When approached by Mr. Lust, he expected me to smile and respond, “How can I please you today.   Any other response could have cost me my life.   This was early in my pre-teen and teenage years before I became a Catholic. 

The only one I could fight back was other young blacks who bullied me.  I could with  them express my anger and frustration with immunity.  This was a daily practice until Sister Bird intervened.  When I dug, the three-foot ditch around the football field, it was the first time I felt punished for expressing my anger.  Sister Wisdom put the dressing on the cake when she told me that if I ever lost my two front teeth, I would never play the trumpet again.  Then my Catholic faith taught me that the act of holding on to anger, hurts and frustration was a self-inflicted wound.  It would destroy me from within.  My fight with Fred in the ninth grade was my last physical fight until I encountered Herodias in 1964. 

I became so angry with her that I ran to catch her.  I thank God that she was able to get into her apartment before I caught her.  I was so angry that I temporary lost my sanity.  Had I caught her, you would not be reading this blog.  She would be wearing a halo or fanning red-hot flames and I would probably still be in Fort Leavenworth or dead.  Remember, she was eight month pregnant. Had I caught her, she and her baby would have been seriously hurt or dead.  I was so angry that I had lost touch with reality and had to learn from eight strange women who observed the incident to tell me what occurred.   Remember, I am a school-trained infantryman trained to take the enemy out.  By the time, I had an encounter with Bathsheba; my faith had matured to the point that I put the incident in the hand of God.  Satan’s influence was so strong that is subverted justice. 

Again, at a tender age, I promised mom that I would never hurt a woman.  My sense of righteousness became my Achilles hill.  I am still angry at many things in life but I try to emulate Mother Theresa practice to turn my anger into “something beautiful for God”. 

Daily I pray St. Ignatius Loyola’s’ prayer:  “Lord Jesus Christ, take all my freedom, my understanding, and my will.  All that I have and cherish you have given me. I surrender it all to be guided by your will.  Your love and your grace are wealth enough for me.  Give me these Lord Jesus, and I ask for nothing more.  Amen.”

I believe that if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.  I hope my book will begin a national conversation about race and self-determination and independence.  My life is proof that adversity can be overcome and you can achieve any dream you dare to dream.  

~~~

Recently, I got a new email from James and asked if I could share:

On Friday, 10/24/14 Jolande entered the Harrison Terrace Nursing home located at 1924 Wellesley Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46219. Her doctor told me that her memory loss is regressive and she will never recover. It has deteriorated too far. She requires a memory unit with lever 2 treatment and protection. Harrison Terrace has a fine staff to keep her comfortable and nutritionally balanced. She has gained ten pounds since she enter Options Health Facility on 10/11/14 and her skin tone has improved. Keep us in your prayer. If you are in the area, you can visit at any time.

This represents a permanent change for my life. I wrote an ending for my book that brings closure to the"Black Dad-White Dad" Chapters 13, “I Met an Angle" and 14, “Marriage Made In Heaven",. I will be revising my book and the attachment will be inserted to become the closing paragraphs for the last chapter.

I visit Jolande daily, talk, and sing to her. This is like waking up from a bad dream but I know that I am not dreaming. I never dreamed that our marriage so perfect in my eyes, would end like this but I am sure that God has another purpose of which I am not yet privileged to know. I need to be patient and wait.

James Womack
Author "Black Dad-White Dad"

James, you have opened your heart to those who've read your book...Now we open our hearts to you and Jolande... My Mom died peacefully in her sleep, but she always feared that something would happen and she would be a burden to me since she'd been living with me. We never know how to face what comes in and to our lives. More importantly there is always the hidden question of Why... We never know the answer... But I know this Jolande and you are:

Know that you have allowed us to walk in your shoes...now we can share your heart as the love of your life faces the unknown... 

I thank you for sharing your burden with me and allowing me to share with others. My Readers, stop just a minute this Thanksgiving and whisper and send your thoughts to Jolande and James and know that we've walked in their shoes and into their hearts this day...

May we all say thanks to those around us and those far away - Thanks to James from me for allowing me to bear his anger and then showing me to let it gooooo...

May your Thanksgiving and upcoming holidays be filled with their meaning...to love one another, as we are able... to walk...

http://llerrah.com/footprints.htm

  

A Bit of Fun - Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving



TWAS THE NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING,
BUT I JUST COULDN'T SLEEP.
I TRIED COUNTING BACKWARDS,
I TRIED COUNTING SHEEP.

THE LEFTOVERS BECKONED -
THE DARK MEAT AND WHITE,
BUT I FOUGHT THE TEMPTATION
WITH ALL OF MY MIGHT.

TOSSING AND TURNING WITH ANTICIPATION,
THE THOUGHT OF A SNACK BECAME INFATUATION.
SO, I RACED TO THE KITCHEN, FLUNG OPEN THE DOOR,
AND GAZED AT THE FRIDGE, FULL OF GOODIES GALORE.
GOBBLED UP TURKEY AND BUTTERED POTATOES,
PICKLES AND CARROTS, BEANS AND TOMATOES.

I FELT MYSELF SWELLING SO PLUMP AND SO ROUND,
'TIL ALL OF A SUDDEN, I ROSE OFF THE GROUND.
I CRASHED THROUGH THE CEILING, FLOATING INTO THE SKY,
WITH A MOUTHFUL OF PUDDING AND A HANDFUL OF PIE.
BUT, I MANAGED TO YELL AS I SOARED PAST THE TREES....
HAPPY EATING TO ALL - PASS THE CRANBERRIES, PLEASE.



MAY YOUR STUFFING BE TASTY,
MAY YOUR TURKEY BE PLUMP.
MAY YOUR POTATOES 'N GRAVY HAVE NARY A LUMP.
MAY YOUR YAMS BE DELICIOUS.
MAY YOUR PIES TAKE THE PRIZE,
MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER STAY OFF OF YOUR THIGHS!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL


--Author Unknown