Thanksgiving Awakening

It wasn’t a Thanksgiving Day tradition I had planned. In fact, I’m not an early-morning person at all. I’m a “hit the snooze button and ease into the day” kind of gal—except on Thanksgiving Day when I wake up as wide-eyed as a child at Christmas. Today was no exception. 

Like all the other Thanksgiving Days for as long as I can remember, I was stirred this morning by a prompting, a familiar November nudging. With it came a heightened sense of awakening and awareness. I was awakened long before daylight with the sudden awareness that it was time to toss back the covers and withdraw to a quiet place to give thanks to God. The quiet in our home as I slipped out of bed was a stark contrast to the Thanksgiving sounds I’d hear later in the day.

In a short while, the Thanksgiving Day parade would play in the background competing with the whirring of the electric mixer and the chatter of my laptop reading out favorite recipes. I’d spend the better part of the morning stirring up one recipe after another. I climbed out of bed with a faster-paced movement than when the alarm clock rudely sounds the alarm. Hitting the snooze on those mornings gives me a few more minutes to snug back into the covers. This morning, however was different. Aware of an internal stirring, I quickly pulled on my robe and slid my feet into flip-flops then made my way to my office. The furnace hummed signaling another cold November morning. I sank into the wingback chair and mused.

I smiled as I remembered the sweet little girl I’d seen in the church parking lot on Sunday. She twirled and danced her way along singing loudly enough to awaken the folks sleeping in the retirement home next door. The words were precious, “I’ve got so much, so much, so much, so much, so much, so much, so much, so much, so much, so much, so much to be thankful for.”

With her song running through my mind, I began to truly give thanks to God, singing praises, and listing out the “so muches” in my own life. As I sat counting my blessings I thanked God for the early-morning awakening and decided that next Thanksgiving I might just set the alarm and start counting a little earlier.

I love Thanksgiving Day for so many reasons but especially love the early morning moments with God--awakening to the awareness that every good gift is from above, coming down from Him, our loving Father. (James 1:17)

Thank you, Lord, for reminding me today that every good and perfect gift is from you.