Title: Thank You Blessing
Contents Thanksgiving is a day to go to God with the fruits of your hard work during the year to give thanks and share the joy with your neighbors. I hope that Thanksgiving will be especially meaningful for high school students. I hope that your hard work and hard work in your studies will not be in vain. I hope that the gate of the SAT will be a channel of blessing that allows you to receive the fruits of gratitude.
America's pioneering began with gratitude. When these "Founding Fathers" were offering thanksgiving, they were still in the wilderness. God gave me fruit when I planted seeds in a wasteland, not thanks because I was rich, God who gave me a cottage despite the severe cold in winter, and a good Indian who taught me farming techniques to strangers despite many harassing natives (Indians) It was thanks to God. It was the spirit of the first Thanksgiving to discover gratitude in such a harsh environment of complaining. Today, you and I have had many hardships and hardships throughout the year, but I hope you can find conditions of gratitude. So I want to be able to give thanks to God completely.
Three years after the arrival of the Puritans in Plymouth, Massachusetts Governor William Bradford proclaimed the observance of Thanksgiving.
I want you to be young people you can be grateful for. May your lips and hearts be filled with gratitude instead of complaining. Then, we would like to share the grace of how we can give thanks as a beautiful blessing.
1. Be thankful even when you can't be thankful.
It is the influence of the American Puritans that led us to observe Thanksgiving. The first Puritans to immigrate to the United States were the 120 "pilgrim ancestors" aboard the Mayflower. They arrived in Cape Card, eastern Massachusetts, USA on November 9, 1620, and the unfavorable conditions of the new frontier made it possible for only half of them to survive until the spring of 1621.
Accordingly, they moved to Plymouth, about 50 km west of Cape Card, and settled there, and with the help of the Indians living nearby, they started farming. Plymouth is located in the state of Massachusetts, about 50 kilometers southeast of Boston.
The surviving "pilgrim ancestors" emigrated to the United States in the fall of 1621 and then had their first harvest. To commemorate this, they invited Indians living nearby to celebrate America's first Thanksgiving for a week. The week-long celebration of Thanksgiving by the "pilgrim ancestors" was modeled on the one-week observance of the Israelites in Old Testament times (see Leviticus 23:34).
In fact, the past year has been a series of many pains and hardships for them. I had to fight disease and overcome the grief of losing a family member. But even in such a difficult situation, they discovered the blessing God had given them and were grateful. There will be some students who are frustrated with this exam. Those who did not take the exam will be even more so. However, please believe that positive blessings always come with negative situations. I am sure that your future will be bright if you know how to be grateful under any circumstances. Close your eyes now and find the conditions of gratitude. And I hope you can take it out one by one and give thanks to God.
2. Give thanks beyond despair.
There was a 21-year-old student at Oxford University. One day, strange symptoms occurred in his body. My hands were shaking and I couldn't speak properly. It was a muscle contraction. As a result of the doctor's diagnosis, it was determined that it was muscular weakness. He could not live more than two years, doctors diagnosed. But he did not despair. I decided to do it, thinking about what rewarding things he could do for the remaining two years. So he studied hard. However, two years passed, when he was predicted to die, but he did not die. He finally got his doctorate. He also received the Schweitzer Prize, the highest award in physics. It's been over 30 years, two years after the doctor said, but he's still alive and doing a lot of rewarding activities. His book, A History of Time, has sold 10 million copies. That's Dr. Stephen Hawking as we know it.
We learn from Dr. Hawking that the pursuit of a rewarding life can overcome despair and even prolong his life. The courage to stand up without being frustrated even in despair brings hope. I hope that you will be able to rely on God rather than despair because you failed this exam. "Be strong and courageous" was God's word to Joshua, who appeared as a new leader after the great leader Moses died. God speaks clearly. The way will be opened if you and I can be strong and courageous in any hopeless situation. Like Dr. Hawking, I hope you can overcome despair and find something that pleases God and try to do it. He gives refreshment to those who look to the Lord with a grateful heart. And he will give you hope and courage to stand up.
conclusion
If you sow gratitude, you will bear the fruit of gratitude abundantly. I hope that even in a desperate situation, you can trust the living God and plant gratitude. That gratitude will lead you to a life full of gratitude. I pray that the seeds of gratitude you planted in faith will bear fruit of 30, 60, and 100 fold blessings.