Thankful | Squanto

Probably not what you expected to hear.

We have been doing a lot of reading about the Pilgrims and Squanto, among others, has consistently come up as a Godsend.

By reading on him and learning about him, we found that there are several versions of his story making it hard to pin point which one is the most accuarte. In fact, after hearing a second reading of Squanto's life, Addie asked me if there were two Squantos! Even my four year old recognized the differences in the stories.

One thing remains true- Squanto was taken to England where he learned English and was exposed to the God of the Bible, Who he ultimately put his trust in. Upon returning home to the New World, he found that he was the lone survivor from his tribe, as they had all been wiped out by disease brought over by the white man. Because of what looked like a trial at the time (his kidnapping), he was alive.

It is amazing to me that even before he chose God, God had chosen him and was already allowing the stage to be set for his return to his home so that he would be there to help the Pilgrims as they sought religious freedom from the King and Church of England.

When the Pilgrims came to America and settled on the land once belonging to his tribe, Squanto was able to communicate with them and teach them how to survive in the New World by planting foods they were not familiar with back in England. He also showed them the best ways to fish and hunt.

I look at Squanto and I see a man with a pure heart. I (sadly) do not think I would have responded to the Pilgrims the way he did after being kidnapped by the English and having his family and everyone he knew killed by diseases that they had not been exposed to before the English came to America. He was kind, loving, selfless, and helpful.

His life is truly a miracle. He is the kind of hero that I want my children to look up to. And believe it or not, he is one of the people I look forward to meeting in Heaven one day.

Our tee pee craft/snack (above) was taken from this blog. They were pretty easy to make and very yummy.