Anna Lectka

Anna Lectka 5th hr. Giving Thanks

 Everyone has things in their lives that they value. Some may have numerous, others just a few. For me, I could go on for days, but one of the main things that is important in my life is my faith/religion. I belong to Mt. Hope Congregational Church. From the moment you walk in, a family of people who love you for who you are surrounds you. Congregational is a Christian denomination, but many people are unfamiliar with our church. Our faith began with the Pilgrims when they chose not to follow the Episcopal Church. They left England in 1620 and came to the United States to worship freely. The people of the congregation are the leaders and decision makers in the church. There is no higher authority like a pope or a bishop. We call our “priest” a pastor. He gives the sermons each week and runs the worship service. Although we call ourselves Congregational we resemble a typical Protestant church. We believe that the Bible is God’s word and that it is accurate. My faith is very important to me because I would be lost without it. I have grown up with people who I can turn to at any moment and are available to help without judging me. I also know that with my faith I will end up in a great place eventually.

Once we get caught up in our busy lives it is easy to forget how lucky we really are. I know that this happens to me often. But this is why I feel Thanksgiving is so important because everyone can take a moment and realize how thankful we really are. The first thing that comes to my mind when I am asked what I am thankful for is that I have a stable family. Many teens during their high school career have to suffer through a parent divorce, parents never home, or just not a getting along with their family. I am so blessed that I don’t have to have that extra stress in my life and I feel horrible for the kids that do. Not only do I see my immediate family often but I also see and get along well with my extended family. All of my aunts, uncles, and cousins live in Michigan so we see them frequently. All together there are seven of us cousins and we are all very close in age. There is only a ten-year gap between the oldest and the youngest. Without my family I would be so lonely. We have so much fun together and some of my favorite memories are the ones that I have built at family parties. For example, one time my aunt got laughing so hard from something my dad said that cake came out of her nose. Although it was rather disgusting I realized that that wouldn’t happen in many families and I am very thankful for that.

I am a girl who likes tradition. If a tradition gets changed I usually don’t like it, or I have trouble with it because I compare the old with the new. Some of my favorite traditions are during the Thanksgiving time. On Thanksgiving Day, the morning is rather boring because all I can do is wait around till three o’clock when we go to my Aunt Renee and Uncle Craig’s house. Once we get to their house, though, immediately when you walk in you write down on a little slip of paper what you are thankful for. These slips of paper will be passed around in a bowl during the Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone pulls one out and reads it to the table and we guess whose it is. Since my grandma and grandpa are very emotional people sometimes this makes them cry but in the end we all end up laughing because they are funny when they cry. Then we all start passing the dishes around. One of my favorite dishes is one I don’t think many people have called cranberry casserole. Although it sounds gross it’s pretty much a dessert because it’s got this topping that has brown sugar and butter and its probably very unhealthy. Sometimes I just eat the topping because the cranberries can be tart. Once the dinner is finished, all the kids, which are all of the cousins, go and play Wii while the parents clean up. We usually play “Just Dance” because it doesn’t require that much skill and everybody knows how to play. My favorite dance is “Eye of The Tiger” because it is upbeat but very cheesy. After that, it all varies. The parents will come in and depending on what they want to do will determine what everyone does. Sometimes we will play a game, or the kids will go outside and the parent’s talk or anything of that nature. This is how my Thanksgiving goes and I would never want to change one bit of it.