Saturday Evening Post

Mommy's getting ready for Thanksgiving - it's a big deal! Of course, she's done a bit of grocery shopping, but we've been also decorating the house with Thanksgiving decorations. It's been nice in the house.

It's been good outside the house too - the leaves are very, very colorful this week. It's a splendid display of reds, oranges and yellows. The drive to work is incredible - crossing the bridge over Lake Lanier and seeing so many colors over the lakeside. Fall is certainly our favorite time of year.

Madison knows the word "turkey" very well now. We've got plenty of turkeys around - even some of the neighbors have Thanksgiving decorations up in their yards. It's a great time of year: tomorrow, Daddy will be speaking to all the kids at church about Squanto. It's a Thanksgiving message tied to the story of Joseph.

It's a long night of studying and preparing, but tomorrow should be a good day. Here's a preview of the big message:

The winter of 1621 was brutal for the Pilgrims. Everyone was hungry, and many were sick with diseases ranging from scurvy to something they could only call “the sickness.”

It could have been worse. An even harsher winter could have wiped all the Pilgrims out before the year was over. This was something to be thankful for. Another thing to be thankful for was Squanto.

Imagine running to greet sailors at the shore – and having them capture you, forcing you to become a slave. Long before the Pilgrims arrived, this had happened to a young Native American Indian named Squanto. He was taken away from everything he knew and loved. He was taught English, and worked for years when finally he was asked to serve as a guide back in the New World, his homeland.

Eventually, he was released – but then captured again! Yes, Squanto was forced onto another ship as a slave, chained in the damp hold where rats scurried and food was scarce. Arriving in Spain, these slaves were sold – and when it was Squanto’s turn to be bought, a man in a strange robe paid the price.

When Squanto arrived at this man’s home, he saw others in similar robes – and he heard the words everyone wants to hear: “you are free.” Amazingly, he was bought by a Christian group of men who bought Indian slaves, taught them about Jesus – and let them go free.

Squanto returned home as a Christian. It was another long journey across the ocean, but no one was there to greet him at his village. Very sadly, all of his tribe had died from a sickness. Home? He had no home. He went to live with another tribe.

But one day, he spotted another ship landing on his shores. Naturally, he was a little scared. Would they take him, and force him to be a slave? Or was there something else in store for Squanto?

What happened next was something so incredible, that through him many lives would be saved – giving him a home, and keeping his name in the history books forever.