A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!....11-28 thru 12-01-02

Billie and Mama_Bear

[Mama_Bear]

As we come together with family and friends and bow our heads in thanksgiving, let us remember our servicemen and women who are far from home during the holidays. In remembering them, let us also give thanks for the sacrifices of their families who will have an empty chair at their Thanksgiving table this year. Let us be ever mindful of our freedoms and the price that has been paid, and continues to be paid, in order to preserve them.

This Thanksgiving Prayer, by Kathryn Kay, is thought to be the poem which inspired President John F. Kennedy's most memorable words:

"Ask not what your country can do for you,
ask what you can do for your country."

Thanksgiving Prayer

God, ev'ry year about this time,
according to routine,
I've bowed my head in the accepted way
and offered thanks, like some well synchronized machine
that prayed because it was the time to pray.
But, God, this year is different, this year I seem to feel
America's Thanksgiving is my own,
that in my nation's gratitude I have a part that's real,
a part that until now I've never known.
And, God, this year a deep humility has filled my heart,
a newborn pride rings true thruout my soul
because I do belong, because I have and am a part,
a tiny part of one tremendous whole.

I think I know the feeling of those first Americans
who said, "We must give thanks for this, our land."
I cherish now the rights that are each woman's, ev'ry man's,
the rights I've just begun to understand.
This year my heart has learned
what all Thanksgiving Days are for,
true thankfulness at last I realize,
but, God, I'm sorry that it took the tragedy of war
in other lands to open up my eyes.
Again I bow my head but this time deep within me stirs
a mighty prayer, part of one vast design,
"God, help me make America as proud that I am hers—
as I am proud, and grateful she is mine!"

"Thanksgiving Prayer" was published
in Kay's book "If the Shoe Fits" in early November, 1941.

In 1789, the father of our country, George Washington,
issued the first official Thanksgiving Day proclamation.

"Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God --- to obey His will --- to be grateful for His benefits --- and humbly to implore His protection and favour: And whereas both Houses have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY of PUBLIC THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States, to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be That we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favourable interpositions of His Providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; --- for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed; --- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish Constitutions of Government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; --- for the civil and religious Liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; --- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also, That we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; --- to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us); and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and generally, to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) G. Washington"

Thanksgiving is a time for counting blessings,
for drawing near to family and friends,
and for sharing the bounty of God's gifts.

Our cup runneth over; for this,
Lord, we give thanks this day.

During this Thanksgiving weekend, if you have a moment, please sit down at our table and share what you are especially thankful for, what Thanksgiving means to you, or a special holiday story, recipe or memory. There is always plenty of room at our holiday table for our Finest FRiends.

Turkey In The Straw
Over The River And Through The Woods
Colors Of The Wind
Old Home Place
Amazing Grace
Give Thanks




Stop by and say hello when you can.
Our regular "A Few of FR's Finest" thread will return on Monday.

THIS WEEK'S THREADS

11-25-02 The Guild
11-26-02 wirestripper
11-27-02 Carlo3b



Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

     1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
     2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
     3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
     4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
     5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me an FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~ Mixer

A reminder from Billie...

[carlo3b]

Thank you Jim, and all who give of themselves to bring us FreeRepublic, to you and yours, the Happiest Thanksgiving of all. To each and every Freeper far and wide Welcome Home for the Holiday... Bless you all.

[MeekOneGOP]

Happy Thanksgiving to you, sir !

[knighthawk]

Happy Thanksgiving!

[M Kehoe]

Thanks for making this thread special.

May everyone have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

5.56mm

[MinuteGal]

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow freepers and their families. Full blessings, full hearts......and full tummies!

Leni

[mlmr]

The turkey is roasting and I want to wish all the die-hards a Happy Thanksgiving!!

[lodwick]

Sunrise at sea

[Budge]

A HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all FReepers!

[Internet Golfer]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE!!!!

[umgud]

And, a Happy Thanksgiving to you too.......

[humblegunner]

You guys are one of the things I am thankful for!!!
Wishing a joyful day to everyone.

[carlo3b]

We will all be there at 12 noon, instead of 11:45am as we thought. This will give you the additional time to boil another potato or something to accommodate the additional happy face that may arrive. I must confess, I am really hungry, and so grateful that you are so gracious to open your home to the thousands of Freepers that didn't want to dirty their kitchen this grand Holiday. I sure hope we make this a tradition.. Bless you... snicker

[carlo3b]

Backatcha, Have a wonderful day.

[lodwick]

[carlo3b]

Dear Family and Friends,

Martha Stewart will not be dining with us this Thanksgiving. I'm telling you in advance, so don't act surprised. Since Ms.
Stewart won't be coming, I've made a few small changes:

Our sidewalk will not be lined with homemade, paper bag luminaries. After a trial run, it was decided that no matter how
cleverly done, rows of flaming lunch sacks do not have the desired welcoming effect.

Once inside, our guests will note that the entry hall is not decorated with the swags of Indian corn and fall foliage I had
planned to make. Instead, I've gotten the kids involved in the decorating by having them track in colorful autumn leaves from
the front yard. The mud was their idea.

The dining table will not be covered with expensive linens, fancy china, or crystal goblets. If possible, we will use dishes
that match and everyone will get a fork. Since this IS Thanksgiving, we will refrain from using the plastic Peter Rabbit plate and
the Santa napkins from last Christmas.

Our centerpiece will not be the tower of fresh fruit and flowers that I promised. Instead we will be displaying a hedgehog-like
decoration hand-crafted from the finest construction paper. The artist assures me it is a turkey.

We will be dining fashionably late. The children will entertain you while you wait. I'm sure they will be happy to share every
choice comment I have made regarding Thanksgiving, pilgrims, and the turkey hotline. Please remember that most of these
comments were made at 5:00 A.M. upon discovering that the turkey was still hard enough to cut diamonds.

As accompaniment to the children's recital, I will play a recording of tribal drumming. If the children should mention that I
don't own a recording of tribal drumming, or that tribal drumming sounds suspiciously like a frozen turkey in a clothes dryer,
ignore them. They are lying.

We toyed with the idea of ringing a dainty silver bell to announce the start of our feast. In the end, we chose to keep our
traditional method. We've also decided against a formal seating arrangement. When the smoke alarm sounds, please gather
around the table and sit where you like. In the spirit of harmony, we will ask the children to sit in a separate room. Next door.

Now, I know you have all seen pictures of one person carving a turkey in front of a crowd of appreciative onlookers. This will
not be happening at our dinner. For safety reasons, the turkey will be carved in a private ceremony. I stress "private" meaning:
Do not, under any circumstances, enter the kitchen to laugh at me. Do not send small, unsuspecting children to check on my
progress. I have an electric knife. The turkey is unarmed. It stands to reason that I will eventually win. When I do, we will
eat.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind my young diners that "passing the rolls" is not a football play. Nor is it a
request to bean your brother in the head with warm tasty bread.

Oh, and one reminder for the adults: For the duration of the meal, and especially while in the presence of young diners, we will
refer to the giblet gravy by its lesser-known name: Cheese Sauce. If a young diner questions you regarding the origins or type
of Cheese Sauce, plead ignorance.

Before I forget, there is one last change. Instead of offering a choice between 12 different scrumptious desserts, we will
be serving the traditional pumpkin pie, garnished with whipped cream and small fingerprints. You will still have a choice: take it
or leave it.

[dansangel]

Wishing you and yours a Blessed Thanksgiving.

For all of my FReeper FRiends, I give thanks.
For the men and women of our Armed Forces, I give thanks.
For all of the fallen heroes who gave their lives so that we may be free, I give thanks.
For having the freedom to love God openly, I give thanks.
For my husband, .45MAN, my daughter and son-in-law, my parents and sister, I give thanks.
For having this venue on which to share thoughts, express opinions and find the support of like-minded individuals, I give thanks.

Most of all, I thank God for all of the Blessings He has bestowed upon me and my loved ones.

[Teacup]

Hope everyone has a great day.

[Temple Owl]

Amen. Happy Thanksgiving all.

[ladtx]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE.

In memory of my fellow Vietnam helicopter pilots who were killed in that war the following were lost on NOV 28. God bless them all.

1966 WO1 Larry F. Castle -- 116 AHC, Age 20, Ironton, Ohio
1966 1LT David L. Siverly -- 116 AHC, Age 24, Oakville, Iowa
1967 1LT David R. Blackburn -- DIV ARTY 9 INF, Age 23, Cocoa Beach, Florida
1967 1LT Donald W. Kemble IV -- 1/10 CAV, Age 22, Flint, Michigan
1970 CW2 Charles F. Creamer III -- 174 AHC, Age 24, South Bend, Indiana
1970 1LT David C. Jauregui -- 174 AHC, Age 26, Flagstaff, Arizona
1971 CW2 Jerald W. Carter -- C/159 ASHB 101 ABN, Age 25, Daleville, Alabama
1971 CW2 Joseph J. Savick Jr. -- C/159 ASHB 101 ABN, Age 27, Akron, Ohio

An Army Mom's Thanksgiving Prayer

Dear Lord, please hear this prayer:
This year, I’ll leave an empty chair
to mark the spot where someone
should have been.

My son is home, but many sons are not,
And so I thought I’d say a prayer for them -
and for those who wait -
hoping that it’s not too late.

Lord, when you see that empty place
meant for those who haven’t come home yet -

Let them know, I didn’t forget.

©Christina
October 1998

IN THE SHADOW OF THE BLADE

SCOUTS OUT!

[Dubya]

LOL