So who is the mother of Thanksgiving?  Yes, we all know the story of the Pilgrims sharing their meal with the natives but how did this become a national holiday.?  

                                                We can thank Sarah Josepha Hale 

In 1789, President George Washington issued the first official United States Thanksgiving proclamation, calling upon all Americans to demonstrate gratitude to God for the end of the war and the successful ratification of the Constitution. 

President Washington said, “Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.”

Following Washington’s example, Presidents John Adams and James Madison also set national days of Thanksgiving aside during their presidential terms.

During the Civil War, due to the persistent campaign of one woman, Thanksgiving formally became a national holiday. In 1827, Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor and author of the “Mary Had a Little Lamb” nursery rhyme, began a campaign to establish a national Thanksgiving Day holiday in the United States. As a widow and mother of five children, Hale wrote, “Thanksgiving Day is the national pledge of Christian faith in God, acknowledging Him as the dispenser of blessings.”

For 36 years Sarah relentlessly pursued the idea of a national holiday.  She published editorials, wrote newspaper editors, ministers, governors, and presidents requesting they set a day aside.  Finally, President Abraham Lincoln, on October 3, 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, granted her request by proclaiming the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving.

Many of the homeless and those without families, can be thankful for the gift of others who are giving them a tasty meal.  A time of prayer and fellowship to follow.

So, when you gather around your table, even having a bowl of soup, remember to thank God first and then to remember Sarah Josepha Hale for making this a special time to remember our great country and the woman who made this possible. 

                                Thanks Sarah…………your loving memory is a blessing for all of us.