\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In 1620, when the Mayflower sailed from England to the New World, the pilgrims had no idea what to expect in this new place.\u00a0 They had brought only a very few items with\u00a0witch \u00a0to start their new lives.\u00a0 They felt it was worth the sacrifice in order to worship God in a way they desired, instead of yielding to the mighty Church of England.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The men brought only a few tools so they could build new homes.\u00a0 The ladies brought an iron pot for cooking, making soap, and making candles.\u00a0 They also had a few iron pans to cook with.\u00a0 The children brought no toys\u00a0 to play with.\u00a0 It was a difficult two months at sea.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When they finally saw land, they were overjoyed.\u00a0 The children could run up an down the beach, and no one had to feel sea sick again.\u00a0 They had left England in warm September, but arrived in cold November.\u00a0 They had to hurry to build some kind of shelter before the winter snows began.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Many of the pilgrims died that first winter.\u00a0 The combination of cold, starvation and sickness was just too much to bear.\u00a0By spring they had made some friends with the native Americans, especially an Indian named Squanto.\u00a0 He and the other Indians showed the pilgrims how to hunt deer, plant food, and\u00a0find roots and berries that could be used for food or medicine.\u00a0 It was a hard life, but no one wanted to go back to England when the Mayflower sailed away.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By the end of that summer the pilgrims had plenty of food, warm houses, and good friends.\u00a0 The first Thanksgiving lasted 3 days and there were more Indians in attendance tha pilgrims.\u00a0 They had their celebration a little earlier in the year, probably in September of 1621.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They had all kinds of food: wild turkey, geese, ducks and deer.\u00a0 From the ocean they took lobsters, clams and many kinds of fish.\u00a0 From their gardens, they had corn, cabbage, turnips,radishes, onions, and beets.\u00a0 The used pumpkins, squash, fruit and nuts to make a variety of pies.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Everyone ate, and ate, and ate.\u00a0 The women cooked, and baked, and served for 3 days.\u00a0 The men and children found time to play games.\u00a0 It was a wonderful way to thank God for all His provision and protection in the New World.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving an official holiday in 1863; right in the middle of the\u00a0Civil War.\u00a0 He declared Thanksgiving was to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November.\u00a0 It was a time to thank God for all His blessings.\u00a0 Let’s keep the tradition alive and really concentrate on being thankful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In 1620, when the Mayflower sailed from England to the New World, the pilgrims had no idea what to expect in this new place.\u00a0 They had brought only a very few items with\u00a0witch \u00a0to start their new lives.\u00a0 They felt it was worth the sacrifice in order to worship God in a way they…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":420,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,27],"tags":[22,17],"class_list":["post-775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement","category-news-or-feature","tag-back-in-time","tag-courage"],"yoast_head":"\n