Puppets: Thanksgiving Day

THANKSGIVING DAY

Mooster: Hello boys and girls! Happy Thanksgiving! Do you have some great plans to get together with friends and family? I know I do – all the forest animals are getting together to celebrate and thank God for all His blessings to us.

Moe: (pops head through curtain) Hello everyone! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Mooster: Hey, Moe! Are you coming to the big dinner tomorrow in the forest?

Moe: I sure am. I’m ready to celebrate Turkey Day and eat all I can! First we have banana soup, followed by a huge turkey stuffed with coconut stuffing, fried banana casserole with those little onions on top, and pistachio gravy. Then we have and papaya pudding for dessert!

Mooster: Um. That sounds really….great, Moe, but you do know there is more to Thanksgiving Day than just eating, right? And why did you call it Turkey day?

Moe: Well that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Celebrating that great American symbol of freedom: The Turkey! Plus eating all the bananas you can hold.

Mooster: No, Moe. The American Eagle is the great symbol of freedom, not the turkey.

Moe: Eeww. We don’t eat eagles, Mooster. That’s illegal. They are on the protected species list.

Mooster: I know that, Moe! I’m not talking about eating eagles. I said the eagle is the symbol of our country’s freedom, not the turkey. Although that was one of the suggestions before they decided on the eagle.

Moe: So if the turkey isn’t the symbol of America, why is it called Turkey Day?

Mooster: First of all, it isn’t called Turkey Day. It’s called Thanksgiving. And that’s because we are supposed to be giving thanks for all the blessings God has given us.

Moe: Oh. Well I guess I don’t know the history of the holiday. I just know it’s not a very big commercial holiday and it’s kind of squished in between Halloween and Christmas.

Mooster: Of course it’s not a commercialized holiday! How can you make money off of giving thanks to God?

Moe: Mooster, can you tell me the story of the first Thanksgiving?

Mooster: Sure, Moe. It’s important that everyone knows Thanksgiving is NOT about just eating turkey and watching football and getting up at 2 in the morning to go shopping.

Moe: Oh yeah – I’m planning on doing that, too. Banana blades are supposed to be half-price at Bananas-R-Us on Black Friday!

Mooster: Annnnnyway. About 400 years ago, there were Christians in England who were being oppressed because they couldn’t pray to God as they wanted. Their king made laws to control their worship. If they disobeyed, they could be thrown in prison or driven from their homes. So they decided to move to a country called Holland. They called themselves “Pilgrims,” because they were wanderers, looking for a new country where they could worship God in complete freedom.

Moe: Wow. We have freedom here in America to worship as we want.

Mooster: That’s right – but the Pilgrims didn’t.  After a little while in Holland, the Pilgrims heard of the new country, called America, and they purchased two sailing ships to carry them here. One was called the Mayflower and the other the Speedwell, but the Speedwell had problems and had to turn back.

Moe: How many Pilgrims were on the Mayflower?

Mooster: Well, they took on some of the passengers from the Speedwell. So all total they had 100 folks of all ages, including little children.

Moe: I would love to take a cruise sometime. It’d be so great – people to wait on me and bring me food and play ping pong on deck…

Mooster: Moe – it was nothing like a modern cruise ship! It was a very long, difficult time sailing across the ocean back then. It was cold and cramped and it took 2 months to make the voyage. It was most hard on the children, cooped up on a ship that constantly rocked back and forth. Some people got seasick. They didn’t have any of our modern conveniences. It was a very uncomfortable journey.

Moe: Oh. That doesn’t sound so fun.

Mooster: The Pilgrims originally hoped to land further south than they did. When they landed, it was November and very cold up north. Captain Myles Standish led some men ashore on several trips, until they found a place to start a camp. It was at a place now called Plymouth Rock. The first house was started on Christmas Day.

Moe: What did they do for shelter and food?

Mooster: That was the hard part. There wasn’t enough food, so people were often hungry. And it was cold, hard work to try and cut up the trees and build homes. Many of the Pilgrims became very sick. At one point, half the Pilgrims were in bed because they were so ill. By springtime, half of the Pilgrims had died.

Moe: That’s terrible!

Mooster: Yes, it was. But God had not forgotten them. In the spring, He sent some friendly Indians that the Pilgrims had met during the winter. One of the Indians, called Squanto, came to live with the Pilgrims and showed them how to plant corn, peas, wheat, and barley.

Moe: Did it grow well?

Mooster: Sure did! So well in fact that when the harvest came in the fall, the Pilgrim fathers wanted to celebrate. They said, “We need to thank God for all the food we will have this winter.” So all the Pilgrims decided to have a big harvest party and they invited their Indian friends. The celebration lasted 3 whole days!  

Moe: Oh wow – now that would have been fun!

Mooster: You bet! There were almost as many Indians as Pilgrims. They played games and had bow and arrow and shooting contests, and races, and all sorts of fun. And they always thanked God before eating a meal because they knew it all came from Him. Ever since that time, a form of Thanksgiving has been kept in our country. In 1863, President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday to be held in November.

Moe: WOW! Thanksgiving is an important time. Now I see why so many people say we should remember to be thankful for things during this season.

Mooster: That’s right. Did you know that unthankfulness is a sin? In 2 Timothy it’s listed as one of the many wicked things people are often guilty of.

Moe: Oh. No, I didn’t know that. Well, I’m thankful for a lot of things! God has blessed me with a mom and a dad and a beautiful tree house in a banana tree and He gives me friends and helps protect me. God is so good to me!

Mooster: Yep – God is always good. We need to remember that and thank Him everyday for all the good things He does for us.

Moe: Hey – I know a Bible verse for Thanksgiving: Psalm 100:4, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him and bless his name.”

Mooster: That’s a great one for our memory verse! Work on memorizing that verse for our next Children’s Night, kids! Remember – every child who says their verse gets a prize!

Moe: Thanks for teaching me so much about Thanksgiving, Mooster. It’s good to know the real story behind Turkey Day..oops…I mean, THANKSgiving Day! I will remember to give thanks to God for all His blessings.

Mooster: Kids – we all need to remember that. As we celebrate Thanksgiving this year with our families, make sure you set aside some time to tell everyone about the blessings God has given you. It will remind others be thankful too!

Moe: Ok, Mooster - guess I’ll see you later! Bye boys and girls!

Mooster: Bye everyone!