Tomorrow is the day...the day that most of America sets aside to gather together and eat till we are sick. For women, the day means finishing up preparation of all the food that will provide the sickness...that is, after having planned the menu and shopped for the food...and in today's culture doing so after getting off of work at their various jobs. For men, the day means watching football, eating, napping, eating, and more football. In it all, we find ourselves giving thanks. I know I do.
Our Thanksgiving is different than most. I am learning that different isn't bad...just different. The cultural pressure is on, with well-meaning questions even from the checker at the grocery store, "What are you doing for Thanksgiving?" Not that it is a cruel question. But because I am particularly raw, it did make me stop and wonder...how many other people also find such a question feels like salt in an already infected wound?
We are vegetarians this year, which adds to the "difference" in how we will mark this holiday. (I am sure we will be just as sufficiently stuffed, even though it won't be from the traditional stuffing.) Another difference is that we are having our meal the day before Thanksgiving, so that my hubby can work on a vacant rental property. Time off from his "real" job is not easy to come by, so our holiday times have often been squeezed in around various remodel and home improvement projects over the years. And that's OK. We enjoy and are thankful for the "squeezed in" time we have.
Our table will be sparse this year, just hubby, youngest son and I present. But even so, it is a tremendous blessing to me...because youngest son spent a few holidays far away in Arizona, which did add to this mother's aching heart. I look forward to sharing a meal together with him this year, and I am so thankful he is with us!
The rest of our family, well...our married son will spend the day with his better half's family. (This is often how it goes when your offspring is of the male variety.) I'm really so very thankful that he has a loving "other" family, and know he will be well fed and appreciated. It is a comfort to this mother's heart.
The other one missing from our table has been missing from our family for a very long time...too long in fact. As I prepare our food, I hold him up before the Throne of grace...and pray he will be warm and fed until he finds his way home...to the arms of the God who loves him.
All the while, even in the midst of all of the "differences" of our celebrations, we find ourselves giving thanks. What a beautiful thing! I wonder about others...people who don't believe in God's existence...who do they give thanks to? One thing I do know, I am ever thankful for the comfort I have found in Him.
Happy Thanks-giving to you all!!
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