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On Sunday December 4th, 2011 my family and I attended the church of a dear brother and sister in Christ. But the night before I was wondering if I would be able to go or not because my left hip was really bothering me and I didn’t think I could sit for 2 hours with it that way. I got up and went to church anyway and during church and after it my hip didn’t bother me anymore. Praise the Lord for his little blessings in my everyday life!
Squanto – The Pilgrim’s God-Send
from the November 15, 2011 eNews issue
“Measured by the standards of men of their time, [the Pilgrims] were the humble of the earth. Measured by later accomplishments, they were the mighty. In appearance weak and persecuted they came — rejected, despised — an insignificant band; in reality strong and independent, a mighty host of whom the world was not worthy, destined to free mankind.” – Calvin Coolidge
Cold and sick, fighting snow and sleet, a motley band of English men and women struggled through their first winter in the New World. Fewer than 50 of the 110 pilgrims and crew that had stepped off the Mayflower survived until spring. On their own, the Pilgrims would have likely all perished their first year on the coast of New England.
God had better plans for them.
In March of 1621, a loincloth-covered native stepped out of the woods and said, “Welcome” in clear English. Samoset, the chief of the Algonquins, had learned English from the fishing ships that occasionally put into the coast of Maine. A few days later he returned to the little Pilgrim village with another English speaking native named Tisquantum (aka “Squanto”).
When the Pilgrims arrived in late 1620, they settled on cleared land that belonged to nobody. Squanto’s entire tribe had been wiped out while he was in England after having been taken as a slave in 1605. After returning to his native homeland with Captain John Smith in 1614 , Squanto was again kidnapped and taken to Spain, where he was bought by local friars and introduced to Christianity. When he returned home, he found his tribe gone and the land that had belonged to them shunned by other tribes. He wandered until he found the Wampanoags who lived about 50 miles to the southwest.
And so, Squanto proved to be a literal God-send for the Pilgrims. He stayed with them and taught them how to stalk deer and catch eels and plant corn the Indian way. He showed them how to refine maple syrup and to discern which wild plants were edible and which were poisonous. He introduced them to trapping beavers, the pelts of which were in high demand in Europe. Without his help, few of the Pilgrims would have survived.
By the autumn of 1621, the Pilgrims were well-prepared for the coming winter and extremely grateful to God, to the Wampanoags, and to Squanto. Governor Bradford declared a day of public thanksgiving to be held in October. They invited Massasoit, the Wapanoags’ chief, to a feast to celebrate their bounty. The Wapanoags taught the Pilgrims the art of making popcorn and the Pilgrims introduced the Indians to fruit pies.
The Pilgrims had additional days of thanksgiving for God’s provision during the next years of difficulty and hunger, but we remember these days of feasting and games and competitions in our Thanksgiving celebrations. God had shown He cared for this little band of persecuted Englishmen in search of religious and civil freedom.
There have been several days of thanksgiving since the time of the Pilgrims.
1777: Samuel Adams made a thanksgiving day proclamation that was adopted by all 13 states:
“It is therefore recommended… to set apart Thursday the eighteenth day of December next, for solemn Thanksgiving and praise, that with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine benefactor…”
October, 1789: President George Washington proclaimed Thursday the Twenty-sixth day of November to be a day of national thanksgiving to Almighty God.
October, 1863: President Abraham Lincoln announced that the last Thursday of November would be dedicated “as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”
Finally, an act of Congress in 1941 dedicated the fourth Thursday of November for the purpose of thanking our Creator.
Even as our forefathers acknowledged the provision and goodness of God, let us also make this national holiday a very special time to thank Him for our own provision – our families, our sustenance and, above all, our redemption in His Son!
Related Links:
- The First Thanksgiving – Koinonia House
- The Pilgrims and America’s First Thanksgiving – Holidays on the Net
- Biography of Tisquantum – “Squanto” – Mayflower History
Everyday blessings: Today my car died on me, but it did it in my own driveway after work as I was pulling into my normal spot in the driveway. Wow! Thank you Lord for caring about the small things in our lives! I praise you oh merciful and loving God!
This is a true story, verified by my Aunt Oleta. She told me that the friend she got the email from knew the ladies below… (Kim, blog owner)
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Dorothy,
This is real it is from my Missouri cousin Pat Sneed who lives about 70 miles from Joplin.
Nancy
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From a genealogy friend
Subject: The Joplin Ladies Prayer Group
* My cousin, Janice Wood, started the Joplin Ladies Prayer group in Joplin MO a number of years ago. They originally met in her home and discussed ways to pray for people that were experiencing problems of all kinds on Tuesday evenings. These women came from many different church denominations, backgrounds, and walks of life; their only requirement for membership was their desire to pray for others. During the week and between meetings, Janice sends out urgent prayer request via email. Over time, the group grew larger and a room at Janice’s church, Faith Assembly of God, became their meeting place. It was located at the highest point in the church building, so it made sense that they called it simply, “The Upper Room.” Each Tuesday evening the group arrived to witness to one another, to share prayers answered and prayers needed, to study God’s word on how to pray for others, and to be reminded that these requests are not gossip, guard them with your heart. In closing, they drew together in a circle and prayed openly for those on their prayer list, compiled each week by Janice, and prayed for anyone that happened to be on their heart that evening. Frequently, one of the members would say, I just feel we need to pray for. . . I don’t know why, but I feel strongly that we need to pray for this person. Many times by the following Tuesday they knew why God moved them to
pray for this person. *
* On Sunday evening, May 22, 2011, Janice and her husband Jim were returning home after visiting family in Jefferson City, MO. Other members of her church were attending evening services when a multi-vortex F-5 tornado hit the Joplin area, a storm that was around fourteen miles long, over a mile wide, traveled exclusively through the city of Joplin, population of about 50,000 people.*
* Many have seen scenes from the Joplin High School, badly damaged in the storm. Faith Assembly of God Church is located just south of the school and was in the direct path of the storm. Members of the church were huddled in the lowest hallway, covering the children as best they could when the storm ripped the roof from the building. There were no serious injuries and no deaths despite the horrible damage to the huge brick building, now considered a total loss. *
* As members began sorting through the rubble, trying to salvage what they could of their church home they made a few unusual discoveries. Flying outside the church the night of the storm were three flags. The US flag, the state flag, and the Christian flag. Following the storm, only the Christian flag remained. As they continued working their way through the shattered remains of their former church home, they found total devastation. On the completely destroyed list, the children’s nursery was located directly below the “Upper Room,” however, in the “Upper Room,” something completely different was found. *
* Over the years, thanks to Janice and the prayer group the Upper Room had also become the church library, which they started from scratch. When church members walked into the room, not a book was out of place, not one chair or item turned over, and the roof over the room was intact in spite of it being the highest point in the church building. There was no water, no dirt, and no storm debris; a stack of papers, copies of the weekly prayer request list still piled on a chair from the previous meeting. A Thomas Kincaid wall tapestry felt damp but with no other damage found in the room. *
* Following the storm, although some of them received injuries, lost homes and family members, all of the members of the women’s prayer group are alive. One survived while driving in her car, picked up three times by the storm. She “looks like someone took a ball bat to her”, is traumatized, having problems sleeping, but is otherwise O.K. Her car did not fare so well. *
* Janice’s home was located a block and a half from what was considered the center of the mile wide storm. Not one other house remains in the area of her home, but it, although damaged, is still standing. Janice considers herself truly blessed and is greatly relieved that her computer containing all the email addresses of the prayer group is both safe and working. Her poor cat, in the house alone during the storm, only wants to be held and petted and is losing all of her hair. They have been unable to locate her vet. Their bank is completely destroyed as well with the only thing remaining, the vault, which appears to be intact. They hope to retrieve the contents of their bank box, including the title to Janice’s car, which was parked in front of their house and also totaled. *
* A man stopped at their house last week and asked what they needed. Janice shrugged and said, “Everything.” He said, “Make a list.” Janice hesitated to do so with others faring far worse than her and Jim, but did; it was two pages long. The next morning at 7:00 there was a knock at their door and they discovered 30 people in their yard. The group was from Shepherds Purse. They repaired the sump pump, removed the water from the basement, cleaned the debris from the air conditioner, got it running, cleaned the furnace (submersed in water), cleaned up down trees and other debris, raked glass from their entire yard, helped removed the remains of the covered deck that was on top of their roof, checked the wiring, patched the roof and other things too numerous to mention. Janice says there are police officers and emergency crews there from all over the nation and people constantly stopping to ask if they can help in any way. One person stopped just to give them a hot pizza; they’d never seen him before. She said it was very spooky the first night they had electricity again as they were only light as far as they could see. *
* I think this gives profound meaning to God’s words, “Fear not for I am with you always . . .” *
http://www.joplinglobe.com/faith/x212207621/Rich-Brown-Women-of-faith-praying-for-many
A Great Blessing – Resurrection Sunday/Easter – Morning March 2009
Hello everyone,
I have to tell you the most wondrous story that happened to my family this Easter.
My son and husband were gone all day Saturday and I was expecting them back around ten o’clock, but it was much later that they returned home. While I was waiting for them I was working on my web site on the computer, then looked at my email and decided to go to a website to look around on the page they had for Easter. It was really neat! While I was looking at that and praising the Lord for his mercy in coming to die for us, I felt the urge to pray for my son and husband for their safe return home.
I stayed up until they got home which was about 1:30am Easter morning. I asked them how they were and my son told me that they had a near miss on the interstate coming home. A car was going very, very fast and weaving all over the road and almost hit them as it passed. Oh my gosh! The tears started welling in my eyes because I knew that it was God that urged me to pray. Luckily 3 police cars stopped this car a little while later. And that’s not all, Sunday evening I found out that my daughter, had been urged to pray too. She said it just came to her out of the blue while she was praying before bed.
Our God is a Great and Merciful God!!!!!!
Hope you had a Blessed Easter, I know I did!
Kim (Author of this Blog)
* There have been two more times that I’ve been called to pray for my husband and or son while they were out since I had this dream. Including one in 2010…
