Part of the wonder of Thanksgiving and Christmas comes with the sights, sounds, and smells of the season that carry a certain nostalgia, allowing us to relive the magical moments of our favorite holiday memories: waking up to a blanket of freshly fallen snow ... receiving the answer to a secret prayer whispered only to God the Father ... a family game of football to work off that turkey dinner ... baking homemade cookies with Grandma ... driving through neighborhoods in search of the brightest Christmas lights ... midnight Mass ... singing Christmas carols at the nursing home ...

One of my favorite holiday memories was the year my family went on a hayride after Thanksgiving dinner. What is your favorite holiday memory? Take a few moments and relive the magic:

• What is Your Favorite Thanksgiving Memory?
• What is Your Favorite Christmas Memory?

_{Image: © Mary Fairchild}

This week's Thanksgiving prayer is We Give Thanks, by Harry Jewell.

Do you have an original Thanksgiving prayer that would encourage or benefit a fellow believer? Perhaps you've written a unique poem you'd like to share with others. We are looking for Christian prayers and poems to encourage our readers in their communication with God. To submit your original prayer or poem, please fill out this Prayer / Poem Submission Form.

We Give Thanks

Our Father in Heaven,
We give thanks for the pleasure
Of gathering together for this occasion.
We give thanks for this food
Prepared by loving hands.
We give thanks for life,
The freedom to enjoy it all
And all other blessings...
Read more of ... We Give Thanks by Harry Jewell.

More Thanksgiving Prayers:

• Giving Thanks and Saying Grace
• Mealtime Blessings
• All About Thanksgiving Prayers - With Tips for Writing Your Own Prayer

I've been through seasons in my life when everything seemed to go wrong. Shortly after completing my schooling, I was forced to change my career path because I could not stand upright for more than five minutes without excruciating pain. I discovered that I had been born with a fracture in my low back that only began to present itself in my early twenties. For many years I lived with debilitating pain. I know what it means to suffer without relief. You probably do, too. As Christians, we experience suffering, we wrestle with pain, we know the heartache of loss. At some point in our walk with the Lord, we probably all ask the question, "Why me, God?"

In this meditation, Jack Zavada of Inspiration-for-Singles.com points out the trouble with saying "Why me?" This line of thinking inevitably focuses our attention away from the solution and fixes our eyes on something likely to complicate the problem ... me. Resolution comes when we keep our eyes on Jesus.

• Read Devotional: "Why Me?"

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Before surrendering to the Lord, Jesus Christ, Brooke lived as a lesbian. Her life was filled with violence, nude dancing, drugs, sex and booze. She moved to Hollywood with a dream of becoming rich and famous, but God had other plans for her and a new dream to fulfill. Today, Brooke shares her dramatic story of deliverance from darkness with women who are hurting and in need of forgiveness.

Delivered from Darkness is a true story, one of our many uniquely featured testimonies from you, the members and visitors of this site. Each story reveals a life transformed by Christian faith. If your relationship with God has made a significant difference in your life, we would like to hear about it. Submit your testimony by filling out this Submission Form. To receive weekly messages of hope and encouragement from real-life stories of changed lives, sign up for eTestimonies.

• Read: Delivered from Darkness
• Show & Tell: Your Salvation Story

What is the church? Is the church a building? Is it the place where believers gather to worship? Or is the church the people--the believers who follow Christ?

The founder of the "home church" movement in England, Canon Ernest Southcott, said:

"The holiest moment of the church service is the moment when God's people--strengthened by preaching and sacrament--go out of the church door into the world to be the church. We don't go to church; we are the church."

How we understand and perceive the church is quite important in determining how we live out our faith. For the purpose of this study, we will look at the idea of "the church" in the context of "the Christian church," which is a New Testament concept.

• Read: What is the Church?

More About the Church
• What Does the Bible Say About Church Attendance?
• Why Don't You Go to Church?
• How to Choose a Church?

_{Image: © Bill Fairchild}

This week's post is a Thanksgiving prayer called I Thank Thee. This Christian poem was written by Jane Crewdson (1860) as a prayer of thankfulness to God for all things in life, both the good and the bad, the bitter and the sweet.

Image: © Davide Guglielmo
I Thank Thee

O Thou whose bounty fills my cup,
With every blessing meet!
I give Thee thanks for every drop—
The bitter and the sweet.

I praise Thee for the desert road,
And for the riverside;
For all Thy goodness hath bestowed,
And all Thy grace denied.
Read more ... I Thank Thee by Jane Crewdson (1860).

Do you have an original Christian prayer that would encourage or benefit a fellow believer? Perhaps you've written a unique poem you'd like to share with others. We are looking for Christian prayers and poems to encourage our readers in their communication with God. To submit your original prayer or poem, please fill out this Prayer / Poem Submission Form.

More Thanksgiving Prayers:

• Thanksgiving Day Prayers & Poems
• Pause and Give Thanks - Poem

Need a few outstanding gift ideas this holiday season? From now through Christmas, I'll be offering suggestions of items I think would make great gifts for the important people on your Christmas list.

For those (like my husband) who love to collect Christmas music, consider one of these Christmas albums for Christians. Topping my list this Christmas 2009 is Glory in the Highest, Chris Tomlin's first holiday CD and one I hope to find wrapped up in my stocking. As a big fan of Chris Tomlin's passionate, devoted worship style, I know I will treasure this collection. It includes a few traditional Christmas favorites as well as original contemporary music recorded live with Matt Redman, Christy Nockels, Ed Cash and Audrey Assad.

• Top Christmas Music for Christians
• Top New Christmas Albums of 2008 by Christian Artists
• Top 10 Traditional Christian Christmas Songs

_{Image Courtesy of Pricegrabber}

A series of terrible tragedies could have left Mama Kel devastated and angry with God. Instead, her strong faith and trust in God helped her to see that tests and trials have a purpose in life. She now looks back with thankfulness for everything she endured.

Mama Kel's true story is one of our many uniquely featured testimonies from you, the members and visitors of this site. Each story reveals a life transformed by Christian faith. If your relationship with God has made a significant difference in your life, we would like to hear about it. Submit your testimony by filling out this Submission Form. To receive weekly messages of hope and encouragement from real-life stories of changed lives, sign up for eTestimonies.

• Read: Mama Kel's Trials
• Show & Tell: Your Salvation Story

Ever since I started accepting Christian testimonies for publication on the site, not a week has gone by that I haven't received at least one meaningful story from a member or visitor about their life transformed through faith. They are real life examples of how a relationship with Jesus Christ can make a difference in someone's life. Many of these salvation stories tell incredible accounts of dramatic change. Now, I'm excited to offer a new way for you not only to tell your story, but show how your faith in Jesus has changed you!

Do you have photographs that document your transformation? Do you have a remarkable before and after story? Please show and tell us about it!

• Show & Tell Us Your Story

_{Image Courtesy of Brooke D.}

Throughout the month of November, I'll be featuring prayers for Thanksgiving in each of these weekly posts. This week's prayer is A Thanksgiving Day Prayer submitted by About.com member, Scott Wesemann.

Do you have an original Thanksgiving prayer that would encourage or benefit a fellow believer? Perhaps you've written a unique poem you'd like to share with others. We are looking for Christian prayers and poems to encourage our readers in their communication with God. To submit your original prayer or poem, please fill out this Prayer / Poem Submission Form.

Image: © Davide Guglielmo
A Thanksgiving Day Prayer

Lord, so often times, as any other day
When we sit down to our meal and pray

We hurry along and make fast the blessing
Thanks, amen. Now please pass the dressing

We're slaves to the olfactory overload
We must rush our prayer before the food gets cold

But Lord, I'd like to take a few minute more
To really give thanks to what I'm thankful for

For my family, my health, a nice soft bed
My friends, my freedom, a roof over my head

Read more ... A Thanksgiving Day Prayer by Scott Wesemann.

More Thanksgiving Prayers:

• Children's Mealtime Blessings
• Mealtime Blessings