By Kelly Wise Valdes

Come Thanksgiving Day each year, many of us are focused on food, family gatherings and the ever popular Black Friday sales. Christians often get caught up in the preparations of the coming holiday season, and it’s easy to forget that Thanksgiving gives us an opportunity to acknowledge our religious freedoms that were fought for so long ago. Pilgrims and Native American Indians brought about this day in preparation for a harsh first winter in the New World. These Pilgrims, seeking religious freedom and opportunity in America, gave thanks to God for His provision for them. 

From that time forward, Thanksgiving has been celebrated as a day to give thanks to God for His gracious and sufficient provision. President Abraham Lincoln officially declared the last Thursday of November, in 1863, “as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father.”

In 1941, Congress ruled that the fourth Thursday of November be observed as Thanksgiving Day and be a legal holiday. Take time and pause this Thanksgiving season and reflect on the blessings that God has provided. Be blessed.


Thanksgiving Every Day
By: Ely Roque Sagansay

This faith-influenced book will help readers look at life in a different way and compel you to celebrate Thanksgiving Day the right way. Live a life with gratefulness in the midst of the complicated world we live in. You will be surprised by the blessings in this family devotional.

The First Thanksgiving
By: Robert Tracy McKenzie

This book tells the captivating story of the birth of this American holiday, and helps us to better understand the tale of America’s origins. It helps Christians grasp the significance of this story and promises to be an indispensable guide to Christian reflection during Thanksgiving on the meaning of the past for the present.

Family Worship For The Thanksgiving Season
By: Ray Rhodes, Jr.

Thanksgiving Day calls families to journey over the river and through the wood’ to sit around the table, enjoy a meal and remember days gone by. In the homes of Christians, Thanksgiving serves as another opportunity to recount the faithfulness of God and to give Him thanks.

Holidays Around The World: Celebrate Thanksgiving; With Turkey, Family, And Counting Blessings
By: Deborah Heiligman

This chronicle of America’s unique holiday is illustrated with those famous National Geographic quality photographs. Covering eleven states and every major region of the country, the photos show the many ways in which the different cultural groups celebrate this day of thanks.

Previous articleHeroic Women Of The Bible: Ruth- An Example Of Loyalty
Next articleLive Like You Mean It: When Each New Day Holds The Promise of Grace
Kelly Wise Valdes
Kelly Wise Valdes has been writing for the Osprey Observer since 2008. She graduated in 1989 from Florida Southern College with a B.S. in Communications and enjoys writing and traveling. She currently resides in northern Hillsborough County with her husband, David. When not traveling and writing, Kelly and her husband enjoy spending time with their five grown children (as well as their grandchildren) that still keep them very busy.