A Creative Thanksgiving Story
Thanksgiving is the one holiday that hasn’t been corrupted by senseless commercialism. But most children probably don’t know why we celebrate it or to whom we owe our thanks. They enjoy a huge turkey dinner with their family and friends and at best might hear a token prayer spoken before the meal.
So, why don’t we change how we go about celebrating this and other important holidays? It would be nice if the children who came over understood the real meaning of Thanksgiving—that we are thankful to God, not the Pilgrim’s ingenuity, the Indian’s hunting skills or good fortune.
I mulled that idea over this year as we had invited two families with five children to our home for Thanksgiving. I had to do something different to bring out the real meaning of this important holiday. Then I had an idea!
Why not turn our living room floor into the Atlantic Ocean? Our grandfather clock could become Big Ben in England! I could get a little boat to become the Mayflower which would sail from England across blue construction paper to the new world called America. The experiences of these Pilgrims, of which 33 were children, could be told along with their desire to worship God and follow Him fully. I would create a large yellow poster board with “God” printed in big letters on it illustrating how He watched over the Pilgrims every step of the way. The story of their daring sea voyage with 50′ waves could also be told along with their daily requirement to take a teaspoon of lemon juice to avoid Scurvy.
Well..that’s what I did. Each child had a part to play in the story and, of course, they wanted to taste the lemon juice which I squeezed out with their resulting grimace . Our little Mayflower ship sailed across the living room floor arriving safely at Plymouth Rock using a stone borrowed from outside our front door.
God had to do some incredible things to get them across that big ocean and to survive a harsh winter. The Pilgrim’s harvest celebration which occurred the following year in 1621 was nothing short of a miracle. When the story was finished, all the children realized that God had made it all possible including the adults who were listening in.
Tags: God's Promises, God's power, Overcoming Adversity
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
