Thanksgiving
/“Begin with Giving Thanks.”
Sometimes I’m clueless. Like last week, the week before Thanksgiving when we went to the mall to purchase a wedding gift and learned then that the Black Friday sales had already begun. I was not mentally prepared at all for the shopping rush or the crowds. My mind was totally in pre-Thanksgiving mode, not pre-Christmas, pre-turkey not pre-Santa.
I guess I’m kind of a traditionalist in that I love savoring Thanksgiving—the prep work of cooking and cleaning, the day of feasting and family, and the days following with leftovers in the fridge and happy memories on my mind. I like editing out the low points and focusing instead on what was good, better and best. I like replaying stories heard and newsy tidbits shared around the table. Most of all, however, I love giving thanks, thanks to God. I love reminding myself that every good gift is from Him, coming down from His hands to ours.
Granted, having a thankful heart is easier some years than others. Sometimes November brings with it multiplied blessings and others multiple challenges. Some years I’m doing a happy, happy dance and others I do well to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
This year is my first Thanksgiving without Mom so my heart has been overshadowed with sadness. One of the last things I said to Mom was, “Mom, I’ll think of you every day and I’ll miss you every single day but I know I’ll see you on the other side.”
In keeping with my promise, I have thought of Mom and missed her every single day since our last good -bye here on earth. This last week, she has been constantly in my thoughts as I have cooked and cleaned in preparation for our family gathering.
Mom loved Thanksgiving. I think it was possibly her favorite day of the year. When she was younger, she cooked way too much food and served up some of the tastiest cakes and the best cornbread dressing ever. In recent years, when she couldn’t do the cooking herself, she left the cooking to others but always had ideas about what would make the day the best it could be. That usually meant lots of phone calls with lots of suggestions. This year, my phone has been conspicuously quiet. The gaping hole is more obvious than I could have ever imagined.
I often joked that Mom could run the CIA from her recliner. Amazingly, she could execute a
complicated plan without even leaving her home. She knew the news and she was the one who kept me in the know with what was current in pop culture. In her absence, I am now totally clueless. For the first time in a long time, I have no idea what the Good Morning America crew is cooking up or where “Kelly and Ryan” might be spending thanksgiving. I miss being asked to look up online some wild recipe whose ingredients will have to be flown in from overseas along with a master chef to execute the level 10 difficulty of preparing it.
This year, as I have thought of Mom and missed her so deeply, I looked to the Lord for comfort and asked Him, “How do I even begin to think about Thanksgiving and Christmas when my heart feels like it has a missing peace?”
His inaudible reply was simple. “Begin with giving thanks.”
In response to His prompting, that is exactly what I did. Before making my Thanksgiving meal shopping list, I sat down and listed out blessing after blessing. At the top of the list was, “Thank you, Lord, that thanks to you and the finished work of the cross, I will see Mom again on the other side.”
The amazing thing about giving thanks to God is that it really does serve to recalibrate a grieving heart and to rejuvenate a tired soul. Expressing gratitude to God despite loss does wonders to alleviate some of the pain.
Have you experienced loss recently? Are you planning to engage in a little shop therapy by indulging in hitting the great after-Thanksgiving sales? If so, have a blast! But remember first to pause and give thanks.
Giving thanks to God unleashes a peace that can’t be bought. It activates a joy that can’t be ordered through Amazon. As you move through Thanksgiving Day and the Christmas season, don’t miss out this year. Begin each day with giving thanks to God and receive peace and joy-- two coveted commodities not found in any early bird special, black Friday deal, or online sale.
Happy Thanksgiving!