Finding Thanksgiving

 Finding Thanksgiving

Mike and I are hosting Thanksgiving for Mike’s family.

To make sure we have room for everyone, I found a folding table with chairs to set up in the living room. We bought the turkey. The menu is planned and Mike’s family invited. 

Last week, I measured all of the table surfaces and set out to buy some Thanksgiving table linens. Okay, they didn’t have to be linen. Paper tablecloths with matching napkins and paper plates would have been fine. 

But they were nowhere to be found.

Even Walmart offered no Thanksgiving ware or even plain, suitable tablecloths. I went to Bealls and found nothing “Thanksgiving-y”.  Finally, I found a few things at Big Lots. I had to rummage through the bin to find enough placemats, two decorative pillows for the couch, some paper napkins, and three round green placemats to use like hotplates for each table. They have “Grateful” embroidered on them. 

We have some plastic disposable plates we can use and enough blue solo cups. We’re fine and I know the event will be fun. The food will be delicious and the company great. It’s the people that count.

But when I got home, I told Mike it was as if the whole of Citrus County had skipped Thanksgiving altogether. A few weeks ago, you couldn’t go anywhere without Halloween decorations hitting you in the face. Now, Christmas is EVERYWHERE! Seriously. 

Finding Thanksgiving was a feat.

But finding it is a must. For all of us. Thanksgiving has a rich history. The traditional story is one of friendship and support across ethnic lines. A coming together to celebrate God’s provision of food and family and friends. It is my favorite holiday.

Last Sunday at church we learned of a way to help people in North Carolina who lost everything in Hurricane Helene. 

A man from our church is taking a truckload of donations to the area every week. Not canned goods. They have food pouring in from other ministries. But it is starting to get cold. I should say “colder.”  I’ve been in the Appalachian Mountains in late August when you can see your breath on a frosty morning. 

People from our church are sending blankets, sleeping bags, warm socks, warm sweaters, shirts, and jackets. It doesn’t have to be new. It has to be warm. And clean.

As Mike and I went through our closets and made a list of what we had to donate and what we could buy to send, my thoughts turned to those Pilgrims of the Mayflower. 

Those Mayflower Pilgrims’ first winter was devastating. But strangers pitched in and offered help.

It isn’t the turkey, the mashed potatoes, or dressing. It isn’t the pecan or pumpkin pie. It isn’t finding matching tablecloths and napkins. Thanksgiving isn’t merely “giving thanks.” 

For us? Thanksgiving is about offering thanks to God for all we have and about giving all we can to help those in need. May we all find Thanksgiving this season.

Leave a comment below to tell us in a sentence or two how you celebrated Thanksgiving! I'm looking forward to your Thanksgiving experience!

Happy Holidays to All!