Joy and Sarah will have lunch at the Kilns, C.S. Lewis house with sweet friends today.
(Imagine sitting at his table where he ate and talked and joked, oh well, a little bit jealous.)
Sing for joy in the Lord, oh you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming to the upright. For the word of the Lord is upright,
And all His work is done in faithfulness.
Psalm 33: 1, 4
Today I will celebrate Thanksgiving for the first time without at least 3 of my children at home, but Clay, Joel and I will celebrate big in their honor with 15 joining us for our dinner. How thankful I am that this year we have seen God's fingerprints all over our lives and His faithfulness and new lessons in life and righteousness so that we have all grown a little stronger. Though I will miss my sweet ones, I take deep joy in my heart knowing that they are flourishing in their faith, friendships and life purpose. And so I thank God that He is leading all of them in His purposes, even if I have to visit them in far off places.
Yesterday, I was thawing my natural turkey in a deep sink downstairs in the basement while I ran upstairs to answer the phone. Did I mention I had turned on the cold water faucet? And then I proceeded to talk on the phone upstairs when Joel yelled, "Mom! Mom!" And of course the water had overflowed onto the floor.
Then, as I awakened this morning, Clay said,"Kelsey, (our beloved golden retriever), had taken a dozen homemade wholewheat rolls out of the plastic bag where they were being stored and ate them down to the last crumb!
As for my sweet Rachael and Nathan, they will be in California where Rachael will be cooking up delicious recipes to share with friends. Wishing them a thankful first Thanksgiving as a couple.
I have made a turkey, a turkey breast, peas, gravy, squash casserole, rolls, corn bread dressing, pecan pie, pumpkin pie and my friends are bringing the rest. But how blessed I am to be able to share life and moments getting to know new friends and celebrating old ones.
A memory of a few years ago that brought a smile to my heart today:
But, I do love Thanksgiving! It is a time of family, resting, celebrating God's goodness, feasting and reflecting on all that HE has done faithfully in our lives. After gigantic cinnamon rolls, and lounging in our pj's, we will all take a few moments to make a list, personally, for all the things we are thankful for--then the Daddy will read whatever psalm or praise is on His heart and we will all spend time thanking and praising the Lord together.
Then comes the feasting. We have not had the privilege of having much family in our lives over the years, so we have spent some Thanksgivings alone. But, I am always so grateful when we can fill the house with friends, new and old, who also need a home for celebrating. This year, all of my children will be here except for Joel, who is being well fed at a friend's house in Maine! (Thanks for taking care of my son!) Added to our family, a sweet family with three young children, missionaries with WYAM will join us, a man from church who has no family in town, and Nate's friend and parents who will also be alone this year. So, I will have 14 at my table and we are truly going to celebrate and have a grand day together.
On our menu will be, turkey, of course, apple, pecan, cranberry pecan bread dressing, celery, onion, cornbread sage dressing, sweet potato casserole, a congealed cranberry salad, fresh cranberry sauce, yellow squash and onion casserole, peas, green beans, lots of potatoes, and gravy, 4 dozen of my homemade rolls (great for leftover sandwiches), pumpkin chiffon pie, upside down gingerbread apple caramel cake, pumpkin cheesecake, pecan pie, and all with whip cream and ice cream to choose. And we always have a variety of sparkling juices. I think I will go do my 2 mile exercise video and sit ups to prepare for the time--or I might just take it as a day of rest.
(if you want a distracting activity for your children and you don't use the neck or giblets, put them outside a window and the birds will make a feast of it and give a show all at the same time!)
In the old testament, feasts and celebration was commanded by God--he is a celebrating Father. May You all have a wonderful day with your precious ones. And may He bless Holy is the Lord. Of all my blessings, I am most grateful for my precious family and friends. I love you who God has brought into my life to be a visual picture of His hands, heart and love for me. May He bless you today in His abundant grace.
I am also so very thankful for you, my encouraging. wonderful friends, who share with me in thoughts, ideals and beauty so often online. Hoping you have a full and beautiful day!