Hilary, our #2 daughter, is at the hospital as of about 1:30 PM Central time. We expect Baby Boy Collier before dinner time, according to her mid wife :) Please pray that all goes well. Nick and I will be traveling from Duluth to St Paul-about 3 hours away as soon as we can get away.
Most stories of Thanksgiving history start with the harvest celebration of the pilgrims and the indians that took place in the autumn of 1621. Although they did have a three-day feast in celebration of a good harvest, and the local indians did participate, this "first Thanksgiving" was not a holiday, simply a gathering. There is little evidence that this feast of thanks led directly to our modern Thanksgiving Day holiday. Thanksgiving can, however, be traced back to 1863 when Pres. Lincoln became the first president to proclaim Thanksgiving Day. The holiday has been a fixture of late November ever since.
The Pilgrims who sailed to this country aboard the Mayflower were originally members of the English Separatist Church (a Puritan sect). They had earlier fled their home in England and sailed to Holland (The Netherlands) to escape religious persecution. There, they enjoyed more religious tolerance, but they eventually became disenchanted with the Dutch way of life, thinking it ungodly. Seeking a better life, the Separatists negotiated with a London stock company to finance a pilgrimage to America. Most of those making the trip aboard the Mayflower were non-Separatists, but were hired to protect the company's interests. Only about one-third of the original colonists were Separatists.
The Pilgrims set ground at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. Their first winter was devastating. At the beginning of the following fall, they had lost 46 of the original 102 who sailed on the Mayflower. But the harvest of 1621 was a bountiful one. And the remaining colonists decided to celebrate with a feast. The feast was more of a traditional English harvest festival than a true "thanksgiving" observance. It lasted three days.
A modern staple at almost every Thanksgiving table is pumpkin pie. But it is unlikely that the first feast included that treat. The supply of flour had been long diminished, so there was no bread or pastries of any kind. However, they did eat boiled pumpkin, and they produced a type of fried bread from their corn crop. There was also no milk, cider, potatoes, or butter. There was no domestic cattle for dairy products, and the newly-discovered potato was still considered by many Europeans to be poisonous. But the feast did include fish, berries, watercress, lobster, dried fruit, clams, venison, and plums.
CORNUCOPIA, korn-yoo-KO-pee-uh
One of the most recognizable symbols of Thanksgiving is the cornucopia, also called horn of plenty.
Yesterday Nick and I took a drive up the North Shore. I never tire of it's beauty, as the lake and it's surroundings are different with the weather, time of year, and it's mood. The lake itself was "lake blue" yesterday. This description always gets a laugh out of Nick, "what do you mean by lake blue?" This is a deep color blue that to me accurately tells it's color! There are many shades if blue, but once you see the lake, one can tell why it so well describes Lake Superior.
The landscape around the lake is full of huge rocks and trees. There are rocks at Silver Cliff that tumbled down the hill recently to break barriers before they reached the highway!!
As you climb to White Sky Rock to see the panorama, you can see for many miles the colorful palette of colors on the trees as they blend with the sky above them.
You can see a lot from the highway as you travel along the shore, but when you take a side road, or hike up a trail, you truly see this as God's creation.
What a way to spend my birthday with the dearest man on earth to me :) Thanks for a wonderful birthday, Nick.
Wow. Nick is not the only one who can paint a vivid picture with words! The beauty of God's creation obviously abounds in your neck of the woods. Glad you enjoyed your birthday!
Ruth, hi. Denise Teer Guillot here. Haven't seen you and Nick since Dry Creek but really missed y'all every year after y'all left. I see from your blog that you are in Duluth. You are getting Taylor, lucky you! He almost came to us outside of New Orleans. He's such a fine young man. Please tell him "hi" from us.
We woke up to 30 degree temps this morning. The trees are gorgeous with all shades of red, orange, and gold. We brought in most of our plants, and turned on the heat for a while.
It is nice to sit on a Friday morning and enjoy my coffee as I read your blogs :)
We have gotten into the upper forties. I was wondering if y'all had fallen into the below freezing zone. Our trees are just beginning to turn. Autumn is beautiful. Have a great weekend.
I'm so glad I've had the priviledge of visiting your cabin home, cuz now I can picture you there with your coffee mug and beautiful window view of the woods. Have fun!
We are still hitting 90, but hope to be in the 80's next week. I love fall, and would love to see more trees changing colors. This is the season I miss Colorado. You enjoy for me ok? Have a great day!
I know that the Lord is please with the growth of the congregation of His people here in Duluth. We have had growth in number as well as maturity. The work for the Lord in the North is a difficult one to say the least. Growing up in Texas, I did not have an appreciation for the difficulties that are faced here. There are even differences in the work in Minneapolis/St. Paul and north to Pine City and then to Duluth.
We have grown from 6 in number (1999) to right at 18-20 to date. This may not sound encouraging to those of you you have 100 plus in attendance, but we are excited to be working and growing for the Lord.
This growth has been gradual, with lots of work. We are expecting a young man in mid October to come help with the work here. We have a full time evangelist, but we are hoping and praying that with the extra help, we will see even more growth.
The work here has proven that it is very important to have a local preacher. Those who work a secular job are not available like he is. There is much to do and the fields are white unto harvest. Please remember our small number in your prayers as we look to God to give the increase.
Some of the things going on here--weekly Bible studies with many of the babes, booths at the 2 fairs-Duluth and Superior, in the summer, radio program on Saturday AM, cable tv broadcasts 3 x a week, as well as our web sight and correspondence courses. We also have a "box" we set up at craft shows and the Lakewalk to stir interest.
That is SO encouraging to hear. Where my daughter attends there are only 8 and 3 are children. The church in Duluth is so blessed to have your family .
So glad you all have been able and are willing to be there. There needs to be a stable, permanent group to be able to support the new christians. Thanks soo much.
Bob has said several times since we were there a week ago how encouraged he is by the growth in Duluth. He said our visits with you in Duluth and with the two congregations we visited in the Twin Cities were highlights of our trip. I have to agree! Prayers will continue for continued growth!
keep up the good work...Vince and I were very encouraged by you all when we visited late spring. Everyone was so warm and seemed very happy to be with each other.
Thanks! We had only planned to be in Duluth for Sunday. We headed west toward Itasca Monday morning and then circled back through the Iron Range to the North Shore/Grand Marais. We spent Thursday and Friday in Grand Marais -- expensive to eat in that little town!! Thankful for Dairy Queen! -- and drove to the Twin Cities for last Sunday! We were so very glad to meet you and spend a little time with you and the folks at Duluth.
