Thanksgiving is today!  Who’s having turducken this Thanksgiving!?  Don’t sit at your computer and think we’re crazy, but apparently these things called turduckens are becoming more and more popular these days.  A turducken is a de-boned turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck, which is then stuffed with a de-boned chicken. The cavity of the chicken and the rest of the gaps are filled with stuffing!  Now who’s hungry?  As good as that sounds, we’ll be sticking to the traditional turkey this year.  Maybe next year though.  

Turduckens aside, Thanksgiving is a day of delicious food, possibly a few drinks, and definitely some NFL football.  Just in case you’re wondering, the Green Bay Packers are visiting the Detroit Lions, the Oakland Raiders are at the Dallas Cowboys, and the New York Giants are visiting the Denver Broncos.  After stuffing yourself full of turkey, stuffing, and potatoes, let us know how much of those games you make it through.  

We also think it’s important to not forget the real reason for Thanksgiving and where it originated, so here is a brief history lesson.  As we all know, it began with the Pilgrims, but how much do you truly know about the Pilgrims?  The Pilgrims were a separatist Christian group that came to America in order to separate themselves from King James I who was persecuting anyone who didn’t conform to the Church of England’s views and authority.  “Separatist” sounds bad, but all it really means is that they didn’t like the way organized religion was going in England, and they wanted to separate themselves from it in order to practice what they believed in their own way. 

Led by William Bradford in 1620, the Pilgrims arrived in America (of course it wasn’t called America at the time) excited about their opportunity to practice their religion freely.  Upon arrival, they developed the Mayflower Compact, which established all members of the community as equal.  Despite their enthusiasm and excitement, about half of the pilgrims died that first winter due to lack of food and shelter.  The Pilgrims didn’t begin to prosper until the next year when Bradford assigned each family their own plot of land to work and manage independently.  

They found that they had more than they needed and began trading the surplus with the American Indians.  This allowed the Pilgrims to pay back their loans to England and multiply even faster due to the word getting back to England about the abundant and free life in America.  The Pilgrims feast celebrating their excess food is what we know today as Thanksgiving.  

For the Pilgrims however, this celebration has a very specific meaning.  The Pilgrims recognized that everything they had was a gift from God – even their sorrows.  Their Thanksgiving tradition was established to honor God and thank Him for His blessings and His grace.  So what does Thanksgiving mean to you?  What is it this Thanksgiving that you are thankful for?  Maybe it’s turduckens.  Maybe it’s NFL football on a full stomach of turkey.  Maybe it’s your family.  Whatever it is that you’re thankful for this year, we hope you have a great Thanksgiving!