Thanksgiving this year was extra special thanks to my husband. He shared with us an important piece of our American History. The First Thanksgiving. He shared the first pilgrims struggle to survive, and the courage it took for these novice travelers to attempt an ocean voyage of 3,000 miles. They arrived in New Plymouth during the winter. Food was scarce, and they dug more graves than they built homes during this devastating time. The food ran out, and the rations per person got down to 5 kernels of corn a day. FIVE KERNELS OF CORN A DAY…per person!!!!
Thereafter, it became a custom observed by the Plymouth colony, to start each Thanksgiving feast with 5 kernels of corn on their plate, so they would never forget how blessed they were to have the abundance they now enjoyed. They would take turns and each family member would move the kernels of corn to the other side of their plate, as they thanked God for 5 things.
This symbolic act of gratefulness moved me so much, that I requested that our family do it on Thanksgiving Day. So began our new Thanksgiving Tradition. What a special and very emotional experience it was. I must admit that when my turn came, as I held those 5 kernels of corn in my hand, it became very hard for me to speak. I have so much to be thankful for!
My husband shared this story with our church during his Thanksgiving message on the Tuesday Night before Thanksgiving, and had the ushers pass out 5 kernels of corn to everyone present.
We have since received many heart-warming reports from saints in the church who practiced this. One story comes to mind of a little 5 year old girl, who started to weep sitting at the dinner table as she expressed her gratefulness, and passed those 5 kernels of corn to the other side of her plate. Her family said that a very special and sacred feeling filled the room, and dinner waited as they all wept with gratefulness.
As I write this, on my kitchen windowpane sits a Ziploc bag that carries in it several kernels of corn. Soon they will have a more ‘dignified’ home,…but I can promise you these special symbols will always be displayed in my home, as a constant reminder of the importance of being Thankful.
7 comments:
Wonderful!! Great idea for next year!
This is too much! Brian told the same story at our Thanksgiving service. God must really be calling us to be more thankful. When we had our Thanksgiving dinner, we didn't actually have kernels of corn but we each took a turn stating why we were grateful. Incredible!
Great Post!! Hey, I love your family picture!! To Cute!!!!!
Thank you for sharing this Sis. Bertram! It brought tears to my eyes. We are so incredibly blessed!
My family makes it a practice to share what we are grateful for at our Thanksgiving dinner. However, we have never used the kernels of corn. What a great idea and lovely token of remembrance, not only to be grateful but of our history.
James-It was nothing short of AWESOME!
Jana-WOW...Brian and Paul are sharing notes!! LOL Happy Thanksgiving!
Susan- Thanks! Secret....We were camping....We had dirty clothes on, guys hadn't shaved....but it was a fun picture! (What you don't see is David holding Lacey up for the picture...I cut it out so no one would call DPS-Doggie protective services!! LOL)
Moi-I'm so glad we did it! (I think the older I get the more mushy I get!!) LOL
Just posted something cool on my fun blog. What I am saying may come as a surprise, but read it all the way through. If you agree with me feel free to steal it(copy/paste) and PASS IT ON!!!
classicmarymoments.blogspot.com
P.S. I wrote a special thanksgiving story on my writing blog and after reading about your Thanksgiving, I think you would really enjoy it! maryfranceswriting.blogspot.com
I like your picture - it looks just like all of you! :)
As a few others have mentioned, we've never used the kernels of corn idea either, but we do have the tradition of taking turns to say something we are thankful for - there have been many teary moments over the years... AND there have been many funny moments too! As you know, kids can say the funniest things, but we've also had a few crazy adults in the bunch!
Love you guys!
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