Thanksgiving

ACFWFriends of ACFW, writing 1 Comment

by Shirley E. Gould

Today, on the fourth Thursday in November, we Christian Fiction Authors pause our writing to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. After all, we need a break from our keyboards from time to time. And it’s a chance to gather fresh material for our prose. So, listen, laugh and experience this time of being thankful for food, family and friends while making memories.

Thanksgiving started in October of 1621 when the colonial Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians shared a harvest feast…and the tradition has stood the test of time. Today we Americans spend the day feasting with friends and family, taking photos to capture special moments and watching football on our big screens.

Many haven’t strayed from the traditional meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. But Thanksgiving meal may be jambalaya in Louisiana, tamales in El Paso, seafood in Florida or oriental food in the home of my nail tech from Viet Nam. The importance of this special time is that it provides an opportunity for family members to spend a day engaging with one another in an intentional way.

It is also a time to be stop the hustle and bustle of preparations and clean up and take time to be truly thankful for how blessed we are. The Lord has gifted us with words to touch the masses and creative abilities to arrange those words to change lives with our message. It is an amazing opportunity to praise Him for His blessings.

I Chron. 16:34-35 says…

Oh, give thanks to the Lord for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever! Say also: Save us O God of our salvation and gather and deliver us from among the nations that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.

As fellow writers, I challenge you to capture the dynamics that are in play on Thanksgiving Day and incorporate the sights and sounds, tastes and smells, hugs and laughs into your writings. It is reality TV occurring in front of your face. It may resemble ‘Leave it to Beaver,’ ‘All in the Family,’ “The Brady Bunch,” or ‘Days of Our Lives’ but whatever your family looks like, there is a wealth of fodder to glean in the chaos of the mixed personalities. Then as you return to your word count challenge, you’ll be refreshed to complete your project, whether it be a poem, a short story or a full-length novel with thankfulness in your heart for the gift you’ve been given. We’re blessed with the gift of writing.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Shirley E. Gould is an inspirational speaker, an African missionary and a freelance journalist. She’s founder of Kenya’s Kids Home for Street Children, an orphanage in Kenya, East Africa. Shirley has written articles and newsletters for twenty years and is presently writing Christian Fiction novels. She lives in the Nashville, Tennessee area.

 

 

Comments 1

  1. I give my thanks for yesterday
    and its strength, that I might borrow,
    for there will be hell to pay
    in a cancer-wrought tomorrow.
    It’s cut me off from life and kin,
    for so few can understand;
    and I don’t know where to begin
    to tell of this lawless land.
    The days of feasting holidays
    have vanished in the dim red mist
    and all my thought’s gone to the ways
    in which even now I might resist.
    But even with one foot in the grave
    there is something in each day to save.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *