Step, one, two...

Thanksgiving. It means something different to each of us - to each family. To some it's food, football, and naps on the couch. To others it's a family gathering with kids of every age running through the house, while grandparents swap 'war' stories. Or maybe it's a combination of both. Or maybe you spent it alone, WISHING for the sound of children and grandparents. No matter what the case may be, Thanksgiving should mean something to us. But do we understand what it really means?

I spent a great deal of time on the road this Thanksgiving season. I had the honor of spending the holiday in Tennessee with my son and his lovely wife. And as I was driving back to Kansas, I heard someone on the radio talk about the first Thanksgiving and how it evolved into what we know it to be today. That 30-minute radio show pinched a nerve in my heart that I was not expecting to feel.

I realized I had never really thought about the FIRST pilgrims. I had always associated Thanksgiving with the settlers sharing with the Indians. But it never occurred to me that those settlers may not have been the first ones there. Or if they were, what they had to go through to get there.

The original 100 pilgrims came to America looking for religious freedom. They wanted to separate from the Church of England and that wasn't going well, so a group of them went to the Netherlands hoping to find freedoms there. But the Netherlands tattled on them while trying to make brownie points with London, so soon they were right back to the same situation. So, the pilgrims felt their only hope was to travel to the New World and start anew.

One hundred men, women, and children boarded a ship and set off on a two-month journey. They had no idea what was instore for them, but they knew God needed to be first in their lives. THAT'S how our country got started! That's what we need to keep in mind when God asks us to step out in faith. Are you ready for that kind of journey?

In December of 1620, the Mayflower anchored at Plymouth Rock, and they formed the first permanent settlement of Europeans in New England. Over half of them died that first winter, but that didn't stop them. They gave God the credit for every achievement. And soon they were introduced to Squanto. Squanto was a Native American who had been taken captive by Thomas Hunt, taken to England and taught the English language, but had run away and made his way back to America. He was helpful translating conversations between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans and soon there was a healthy relationship between the two.

Which leads us to Thanksgiving. Kind of...

Thanksgiving got started because two totally different groups of people worked together. They realized they needed each other - realized they could learn from each other. Learned that two heads were better than one. And instead of ignoring each other or fighting, they worked together to make life better for everyone. Sound familiar?

When you put some genuine thought into it, it's pretty amazing! The pilgrims risked everything to come to the New World - they risked lives, so they could worship God the way they felt was right. The Indians risked their land and their culture, as well as their lives, in the simple cause of friendship. What would our world be like if everyone had acted in such a manner?

Many of those original Pilgrims were part of the Mayflower Compact - the document the governed Plymouth Rock and was the basic principles of future government documents. God is woven into the very fabric of our governance. He has been since the first Pilgrim set foot on solid ground from getting off the Mayflower. God is what brought them here and God is what rules over our land.

Even as they were watching their families die, they were grateful for the freedom they had to worship God openly and whenever they wanted to. There's a lesson in that for all of us. I take that freedom for granted. I can get in my car and turn on a Christian music station or pop in a Christian CD, even Bluetooth Christian music from my phone. I can buy a Bible whenever I want to or share my testimony and never fear jail or prison. And if someone disagrees with my beliefs, we can have a conversation... or not. I'm free to worship God openly. And so are you.

There are Christians across this world that are dying for their faith... for the freedoms we take for granted. Like the pilgrims that landed on Plymouth Rock, there are Christian in other countries that long for the freedom to praise their Creator without the fear of jail or prison or death.

Our forefathers didn't leave their native lands just to "start a better life." They had a purpose. They had a mission. They knew they weren't going to change the whole world, but they could try to change their world. And even in the hardships of change, they could sense the future of what they set out to do. It was the beginning. They were the steppingstones of the gospel to move forward in freedom. They wrote our freedoms into the Constitution with purpose and intention. With God at its core.

So, when we are sitting around the Thanksgiving table stuffing our faces with turkey and dressing and pie, maybe we should be thinking about the pilgrims that sacrificed their families and their lives so we could argue over who says grace before we start eating. Maybe we should be on our knees thanking Him for the freedoms we have, instead of arguing over the ones we think we don't.

I know I will never think of Thanksgiving the same. My mind will always see the families struggling to survive a harsh winter and gatherings of a few around a table saying grace. I hope I remember to thank God when I walk through the church doors on Sunday morning and gather with my friends for Bible study. And I've added an extra prayer to my list, for those that have never had the luxury of open church doors and Bible study groups. God has opened my eyes and my heart. And I pray He opens yours as well.

Ephesians 2:19-20 (NLT)

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.