Being Thankful

Michael's drawing of our home.

Alli's drawing of her home, mom, dad, food & water.

Jon's drawing...365 days in a year, his home, family, food, water & Jesus on the cross.

This morning we talked about exactly WHO a Pilgrim is...how the first thought that usually pops into your mind is the big black hat with the shiny buckle & the big white collar.

Here's the dictionary definition:

pil·grim /ˈpɪlgrɪm, -grəm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[pil-grim, -gruhm] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a person who journeys, esp. a long distance, to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion: pilgrims to the Holy Land.
2. a traveler or wanderer, esp. in a foreign place.
3. an original settler in a region.
4. (initial capital letter) one of the band of Puritans who founded the colony of Plymouth, Mass., in 1620.
5. a newcomer to a region or place, esp. to the western U.S.

We talked about WHY they left England to come to America, the conditions on the ship, how long the trip took them, etc. & ended up talking about what we thought they were MOST thankful for when they finally arrived in America. Our first response waw being thankful to be OFF the ship & on solid ground again....Michael & I were remembering another 'Survivor Man' show we saw where he was surviving out at sea in a little raft.....then once he drifted to a little island & was trying to go to sleep that night, he talked about still feeling like he was rocking & rolling on the waves.....& we talked about how they must have felt after being on that ship for two months in those rough conditions. After discussing all the things THEY had to be thankful for, we talked about all the things WE have this season to be thankful for. Our list included the usual things like: our home, family, food, clothes, friends, living here in America where we have freedom to worship & freedom to homeschool our kiddos, etc. Then I had each kid draw a picture for their notebooks of one thing that they are MOST thankful for. Michael & Alli both drew pictures of their home...Alli added mom, dad, food & water to hers. Then there was Jon's....Jon is the oldest of these three & the one I would consider the most artistic of the kids....so I was kinda surprised & disappointed when I came back & saw his little stick figure drawings that he had done in a hurry (he has hunting on the brain right now), BUT when I asked him about his picture....it was the bottom one I couldn't quite make out because he had drawn with a fat tipped marker....& he told me it was Jesus when he died on the cross for our sins................I was like WOW.....what can I say? Even though his picture was obviously drawn in a hurry, it actually probably had the most thought behind it. It's moments like this that make it all worthwhile!!