Dear Beloved,
Thanksgiving greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As I continue to live life, I have fully come to the realization that life is not a bowl of cherries. There are those seasons when we have to deal with the pits.
I have seen and continue to see people, with whom I am close, struggle through inordinate trials and sufferings. I have pastoral friends who are fighting cancer and praising God through it all. We have members in our church family who are undergoing surgeries and chemotherapy who are thankful for all that the Lord is doing in their lives.
How is that possible? How can one go through the fiery trial of disease and potential death and remain thankful?
The very first Thanksgiving happened in 1621. It was a unique holy day for the Pilgrims. We tend to see pictures of them gathered with smile on their faces and food on the table.
However, in the period prior to that first Thanksgiving dinner, they had suffered through a horrible winter in which great numbers of their precious babies, children and adults starved to death. Some boarded their ships to sail back to England when an oncoming ship with supplies met them.
In the midst of discouragement, disillusionment, disease and death, they inaugurated Thanksgiving Day for all of us.
It is in the midst of the dreaded events of life that we realize that we are insufficient in ourselves. It is in those moments that we cry out to a Living and Holy God and He, and only He, satisfies the parched nature of our wounded souls.
It is when we are stricken by disease or laden with grief that we cry out “Abba Father!” and our daddy in heaven meets us and we become thankful in the midst of all that troubles us.
As you celebrate Thanksgiving this year, may you be reminded of the goodness and the presence of the Lord no matter what is happening in your life. God always purposes to take what is horrible, what is hurtful and what is harmful in our lives and give it meaning. Once we embrace the redemptive meaning, we become a thankful people.
Wherever you are in your life, may the Lord fill your life and heart with thankfulness and may that thankfulness bless those around you.
With Thanksgiving,

Cory Ishida, d.v.
d.v., deo volente: God willing