Be Thankful and Say So

by Greg Quinn

November 26th, 2025

Thanksgiving is a time for food, family, fun, and yes most importantly, giving of thanks. We tend to very easily enjoy the food and fun times with family but often overlook the thanksgiving part. Being thankful is more than just an extended prayer over the dinner table at Thanksgiving. It is beyond just words, but a condition of the heart and mind.

Of course, our Thanksgiving holiday is based upon the pilgrims of our nation and their thankfulness from surviving harsh climates and Indian attacks and so many other hardships. This piece of history is important for us Americans to remember. We should be very thankful for the founders of our great nation who sacrificed much to start this new land which we now enjoy as America.

Our thankfulness should go well beyond a history lesson, however. Our thankfulness should reflect upon our own personal experiences and how God has led us from where we were to where we are today. Our personal thankfulness should extend to family, friends, opportunities, health, provision, safety, freedom, peace, and so many other things. And our thankfulness should not only be reflected on a special day, once per year, but be a continual flow of thanksgiving to God for what He has done for us in our lives.

Thanksgiving as a holiday changes as we get older. I'm now what is considered a "senior citizen", so I look at things differently than I did 20-30-40 years ago. Even 5 years ago. Five years ago was the first Thanksgiving without our Mom. Five years ago was the first Thanksgiving without our brother Jeff. Hard to believe, but it's been 14 years since our Dad went on to Heaven. So Thanksgiving as a holiday has changed in terms of my personal experience.

But one of the greatest things we can enjoy about Thanksgiving is reflecting on times past. The memories. I remember so many Thanksgivings with family gone on before us. Mom would always have a big Thanksgiving feast. Turkey, dressing, gravy, homemade rolls, green beans, mashed potatoes, and all kinds of desserts. Dad would say the prayer. We would eat until we couldn't eat any more, then some. The table would be full of laughter and telling stories of old times. The kids would have their table and laugh and cut up. Jeff would always "pass" the rolls (throw one at you). The stories of times past would be some of most wonderful memories of Thanksgiving.

There was the story of when Dad and his 9 sisters were young. His sister just older than him a year or so (Robbie) was a tom-boy and as Dad was the youngest and the only boy he and Robbie would cut up just like two boys. They were big on daring one another. One time Dad dared Robbie to chop his head off like a chicken, since she had threatened to do so. Our grandmother Quinn came out of the house just as Dad had his head on the chopping block and Robbie had the axe above her head. Funny story looking back on it but could have had a tragic ending. Such were kids and their dares.

I loved being around my aunts and uncles on both sides of the family and how they told stories about growing up and the fun they had in spite of hardships. Now the only aunt I have remaining on my Dad's side is my Aunt Camilla and she is now 93 and I still love to hear the stories of her 8 sisters and one brother and of times past.

The stories of Thanksgivings of old with larger family dinners and how our family when Dad was a boy didn't have much, but living on the farm they had each other and food to eat and much to be thankful for. They had love. They had family. They didn't have much in terms of possessions, but what they had money could not buy.

The stories of when Mom was a girl with her brothers and sisters and they didn't have much either but were thankful for what they did have. There was such a close bond between all the kids. I love to hear the stories about their Thanksgivings of times past. My Mom's only remaining sister, my Aunt Christine, is 93. I spoke to her yesterday and it is always a blessing to reflect of times past with her. 

As a boy I remember many Thanksgivings with Mama Kent and Mom preparing big meals and us boys fighting over who got the turkey drumsticks (4 boys and 2 drumsticks made quite a fuss). I remember the meals and the telling of stories around the table. I remember Thanksgiving day breakfast with Mama Kent and her podue (chocoloate gravy) and biscuits. And then the big Thanksgiving dinner was always a treat. We would eat and laugh and tend to forget the problems and struggles of the time and remember to be thankful for what we had.

Then as we grew older and had our own families, we would still all get together at Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad's and would reflect upon times past and the good times and funny stories.

There are many stories that come up about us brothers growing up together. The story about how I used to sleepwalk and popped Jeff in the nose while he was sleeping. Stories about living on the farm. The time when I took Jeff out in the snow to go to the bathroom at night, digging a hole in the snow where he could do his business, and then pushing him back in it. Yes, I got a whooping for that, and many other things that I did, and should have had many more. Stories about driving in the family car where the rear floorboards were rusted out and us boys could see the road under the car. We had no seatbelts in those days and when Mom drove her right arm automatically stuck out to catch us boys when she put on the brakes. My little brother Anthony laid in the back window. Stories of raising tobacco, corn, other field crops, chickens, pigs, cows; living on the farm. Getting up early to milk the cows before school. Story about my cousin Dwayne protecting me against the school bully when I was in first grade. How my cousin Shelly and I would be separated in school from talking too much (was always Shelly not me). How we would cut up in church and hope Dad wouldn't catch us (he usually did). Stories about how Jeff and I used to fight all the time until one time Dad made us fight and after this we didn't fight much anymore. Stories about my cousin Keith who could throw a rock around a corner and one time almost put out Jeff's eye. Fishing in Mama Kent's pond and catching a snapping turtle. Playing with "toys" which consisted of whatever stick or rock you found that became part of an imaginary tale. Stories of catching June Bugs and tying strings to their legs and let them fly. Catching lighting bugs and putting in a jar for a night light. Stories of shooting BB guns. Hunting and killing squirrels and my Mama Kent cleaning them for Saturday breakfast. Mine and Jeff's first shotguns (I still have mine and Jeff's). Of hanging a pair of Dad's coveralls in a tree between us and our neighbor and our neighbor's wife thinking it was her husband. Of motorcycle trails. Stories of car wrecks (I had them often from driving too fast) and survival. When Vicki and I dated. Love and fights between brothers. Stories told by Mom or Dad or Mama Kent at the table, countless stories, of their times growing up. 

Thanksgiving at my wife's house was much different. Great food but much more sedate. But the stories of growing up were always told. Of her dad growing up without parents and having to live on his own as a young teenager, jumping trains, sleeping in the cemetery, lying about his age so he could get a job. Stories about the kids growing up and the funny times they had. From the time we started dating in the early 70's until her Mom died, I would sit at Thanksgiving with a TV tray in front of me beside her Dad and hear stories of old while pretending to watch a football game. The food was good but really didn't matter. Who won the game didn't matter. What mattered was the time together and the stories that were shared.

But in all these stories and reflections of the past, there was a constant theme. The times were different. The people were different. Generations shifted. Lives became new and lives were lost. But the constant theme was always the same. Family and love and thanksgiving for what we had.

In today's modern times we sit at a table with people on their phones. Communication is digital not person-to-person live. Kids have all kinds of electronics and games to play with but never seem to have anything to do. People grow apart. Families get separated. Memories are no longer being made. And the sharing of memories in times past are forgotten.

And being thankful for what we have is replaced with complaints about what we don't have.

God doesn't mean for it to be this way. We are to be thankful for what we have, no matter how much or how little. We are to be thankful for the good times in the past, and the bad times in the past. No matter how bad, if you are reading this, you are alive and should be thankful that whatever it was you got through it. Families need to stay together. Laughter needs to flow around kitchen tables again. Sharing of memories needs to be rekindled.

The Bible reminds us of the importance of Thanksgiving to God, the One who made us, the One who protects us, the One who provides for us.

Psalm 26:7
7 That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.

Psalm 100:4
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Jeremiah 30:19
19 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.

2 Corinthians 9:11
11 Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.

Philippians 4:6
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Colossians 2:7
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

Psalm 116:17
17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.

Be thankful and say so.

It is not important what kind of house you live in as long as there is love in that house. It is not important if you have that newest toy if you don't have anyone to share it with. Having the newest car is not as important as having someone you care about in the seat next to you. Having money in the bank doesn't matter as much as being thankful for God meeting your needs however small. Being thankful for what you have in terms of possessions are more joyful than having more without thanksgiving. Having people you love to share life with is significantly worth more than having more and being alone. 

The Thanksgiving table is more important than the food on it. The Thanksgiving table is about the people around it, the love you share one for another, the laughter and memories, and being thankful for the opportunity to enjoy this time together.

How I wish I could go back in time and be sitting around a Thanksgiving table at Mom's house with my Dad, Mom, Mama Kent, and brother Jeff who have all gone on to Heaven. Such a blessing it would be if we could see us and all our kids and grandkids all together around a table again. 

I will see them again around a Heavenly Thanksgiving Table with family and friends and Jesus our Lord.

Times pass and people come and go. But the memories should be cherished and told over and over again and passed down to generation upon generation. These are the things to be thankful for.

Be thankful and say so.

I've heard many talk about a Thanksgiving Journal. A place to write down each day things that you are thankful for. May be the sunshine on your face, the sound of rain, the song of the birds, the familiar friend, the brother or sister or mom or dad or child. Maybe a day without pain. Maybe the voice of someone you love who is far away. May be thankfulness for another day of life. May be thankfulness for the memories of times past. May be thankfulness for the food of this day and the people you get to share it with.

Of all the things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, there is one thing the most valuable. Thanksgiving food is great. Sharing it with people we love is better. The memories of times past are magnificent. But the most valuable? Knowing that God in Heaven loved us so much that some 2000 years ago He sent his Son Jesus to come to earth and become the sacrifice for our sins, allowing us to enjoy a relationship as sons and daughters of the Most High God, have a wonderful life in the years we are here, and eternity in Heaven with God and Jesus and our families who have gone before us. 

I don't believe a person can truly be thankful until he or she experiences the love of the Father God by accepting the sacrifice of Jesus. God has made us kings and priests. God calls us sons not servants. We share in the glory of God and his Son Jesus by accepting Jesus as our Savior and Lord. Until you truly understand how much God really loves you, yes you, then you don't really know how to be thankful. But friend, when you experience the love of God through Jesus, you learn to be thankful for each day, each breath, each moment, each experience, and look forward to a life full of thankfulness and wonder in the living of a life of serving God and others.

So if you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior, do so right now. It is a free gift. You cannot earn it, you can only receive it. Ephesians 2:8-9 says there is nothing you can do to earn this salvation, this forgiveness, this new life, except to freely receive it as a gift.

Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

The grace of Jesus is a gift; he died so you may live forever. The faith you have to receive it is a gift also. So there is nothing you can do but just accept the gift. Will you do so today?

Pray this simple prayer. "God, I am a sinner. I am in need of a Savior. I know that Jesus your Son came to earth and lived a perfect life without sin, becoming the sacrifice for my sins. I know Jesus died for me on a cross, yet he rose 3 days later to live forever. To allow me to live forever too. I accept this free gift of salvation through Jesus today, right now. I invite Jesus into my heart as my Savior and my Lord. Thank you for saving me, Jesus. Help me live each day in thanksgiving for what you have done for me."

If you prayed this prayer, then you can truly experience Thanksgiving this year.

I may never see you here on earth, but if you are a follower of Jesus, I will see you one day in Heaven. And for this, I am truly thankful.

God bless, and happy Thanksgiving.

Greg Quinn