Thanksgiving - a participation holiday

 Keep your roots deep in Christ Jesus, build your lives on him, and become stronger in your faith, as you were taught. And be filled with thanksgiving. Colossians 2:6-7Good News Translation

Because my husband had to work on Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving Day on Saturday. It seems funny using the word “celebrate”. Celebrate makes it sound like we danced or sang, maybe jumped around a little or at the very least opened presents.

I suppose the better word to use would be “observe”. But to observe something makes it sound like we sat back and just watched it happen. Ok, I know that is what goes on in a lot of American households this time of year. After eating way too much turkey, stuffing, potatoes and pie, many sit back and observe football games on TV. The rest of us nap.

I guess that’s why I can’t decide whether we celebrate or just observe.

Nope, I think I decided that the word should be celebrate after all. Giving thanks is definitely a participation activity and one which we should do every day, and not just the fourth Thursday of November.

What are you thankful for this year?

 Thank you Lord for filling this table with food and these chairs with my family. You bless me every day through out the year. 

Day by Day

Day by day

Oh Dear Lord

Three things I pray

To see thee more clearly

Love thee more dearly

Follow thee more nearly

Day by day

(from the 1971 musical Godspell)

Yesterday was the first day of my week-long vacation. Instead of being able to relax and enjoy it, though, I had a full day. I knew that coming into this and had myself already stressed before it started.

I rushed around in the morning trying to get some housework and laundry done. In the afternoon my husband and I took my mother to visit my cousin who is in a nursing home 50 miles away. My 85-year-old mother’s health has been slowing declining over the last year, so we secured a wheelchair for her use. I was fearful that they would keep her at the nursing home.

After a nice visit with my cousin, we headed across town and down the highway 20 miles to the wedding of my niece’s daughter. The wedding was outside, the weather warm and muggy, and my mom was still in the wheelchair. On top of that, my niece’s family – well, they truly are a nice bunch, but they are a bunch so it is always interesting. And finally, my friend from Minnesota happened to be in the area, so at the last minute, I invited her to join us. It was no big deal, as the wedding was very informal, but it still made me feel weird.

So, all of this made for a stressful day, or I thought it would. I went in to yesterday feeling tense and basically unhappy. Why can’t I just have peace and quiet today, I asked myself. But it all turned out fine. I had a good day, got to visit with lots of people I haven’t seen in a while. And my wheelchair-bound mom, who I was most worried about, had a good day too.

Lord, thank you for all our days, whether they are good ones or not. Help me to remember that you are with me each and every day. And any unhappiness I feel in my days is from me and not from you. 

My sister and brother-in-law with their granddaughter and  her  new husband.