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Giving Thanks

Praise the LORD! Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.
Psalm 106:1

It's Thanksgiving week! Visions of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole,  pies, and carb overload are dancing through my head along with sleeping arrangements, linen supplies, and bathroom logistics. Our home will be full of family - three generations this year and a very special longtime friend will join us too.

We'll resume our family tradition of watching A Christmas Story after dinner-something we haven't been able to do as an extended family for several years. Of course there'll be football throughout the day and napping, although I'm not sure you can do that with two 3-year olds running around. Maybe I can talk my husband into building a cozy fire in the fireplace and our girls will entertain us with some piano duets. I imagine you're now running through your schedule of events for Thursday. It's probably similar to mine.

Big holiday celebrations are always opportunities for those "special" memories. Thankfully, no brawls or ugly scenes have ever occurred at our family gatherings, but here are a few of my Thanksgiving favorites:
  • Eating too much cranberry sauce as a kid with disastrous results. I still abstain (shudder).
  • Making the rounds as a young married couple to three Thanksgiving dinners in one day. We had to sleep off turkey intoxication. It was a painful gastric experience.
  • Our youngest daughter at age 5 or 6 overindulging on pumpkin pie. As you can imagine, the aftermath wasn't pretty. Extremely similar to my cranberry experience.
  • Intense Rook and Scrabble games at my sister-in-law's that went long into the evening.
  • My mother-in-law's embarrassment at forgetting to remove the paper liner from her purchased pie crust. It baked nicely with the pumpkin filling, but was a little fibrous.
  • My step-grandmother's inedible crunchy stuffing experiment.
  • My brother-in-law, Bill carving the turkey with surgical precision. It was a beautiful sight!
  • Beginning new traditions with Arizona friends around our table.
 I can hardly wait to add the memories we'll gather this Thanksgiving. It's the real bounty at our table, which comes so graciously from the Heavenly Father's hand. May your table be blessed as well.
Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! Psalm 34:8

Comments

JD said…
Nice reading your memories, especially the one about Bill! I love how family continue to remember him...but then he WAS pretty unforgettable! We'll be having the same kind of gathering at Christmas. I'm looking forward to lots of fun, cousins enjoying each other, new memories and some Davis traditions!
November 20, 2011
LrdClbrn said…
"It baked nicely with the pumpkin filling, but was a little fibrous." Bwaaa hahahahahaha!! Just beautiful. Happy Thanksgiving!
November 23, 2011
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