An Australian's Take on Thanksgiving

Hi Guys! Grant here. I’m guessing that most of the people who visit our site, and therefore most of the people who will read this, live in the USA. That’s where I live too (for the last 4 years or so), but I’m actually Australian. That’s why I’m still learning about things like saying, “Happy Holidays” in November and what Thanksgiving is all about.

The story of Thanksgiving itself, and how it came about, is amazing. I won’t try to give you a history lesson or anything, but you have to go back to the early 1600’s (when Australia was still well over 100 years from even being discovered by Europeans) to find its origins. The holiday was set aside by the first European settlers as a time to be thankful to God. He had guided them to the new world where they hoped to build a nation on Biblical principals and he had helped them survive the first terrible winter. That winter had killed about half of them and life was tougher than we can imagine! Yet they found reason to be thankful and praise God.

That’s a great reminder to me. Sometimes I even want to complain if the air conditioning is a couple of degrees not to my liking! Sometimes I just need a bit more perspective! Living a life that shows gratitude for all of God’s blessings is something that I strive to do everyday. But having a special time of year to show special “Thanksgiving” is awesome.

As we in the US celebrate Thanksgiving this year, let’s remember the original spirit of the oldest of all American holidays - gratefulness to our Creator. And if you don't live in the US, why not do it anyway? And have a happy holiday!