What can a person do at Thanksgiving if all the food is ready but the guests can’t come? I recall a Thanksgiving meal my wife and I hosted 40 years ago in North Dakota. We had been at this church about a year, and my brother and his family were planning to drive up from southern Minnesota and join us for the holiday. A heavy snowfall, however, cancelled their plans at the last minute and they could not come.
So, what can a person do? The turkey was thawed and the side dishes ready to be cooked. Pie was baked and the house was decorated. What did we do? We invited someone else! That day we got up early, put the turkey in the oven and made ready all the potatoes, gravy, stuffing, vegetable dishes, cranberry relish (gotta have that) and freshly baked pumpkin pie. Then we prayed others would join us.
As the people left after Thanksgiving worship that day, I invited some right out of the line, people with no family there whom I knew would probably be eating alone or at the cafe. Six accepted our invitation and our table was filled. I can even remember some who came - Grace and Merle Akers, Vi Solberg, and three others.
Instead of having a quiet house with just us four, there were ten happy, sociable, hungry people. What a Happy Thanksgiving it was, filled with food and joy! While I’m sure those guests are all with the Lord now in the heavenly Thanksgiving, our impromptu feast of 1976 is still a fresh memory to me. I’ve thought of trying this again, but thought better of it. Times, places and people are different today.
This year, Carol and I are hosting Thanksgiving with family in Tucson, and thanks to Boston Market, it will again be a feast. Ten people will be there again, and again we will be filled with food and joy, freshly baked pumpkin pie, and perhaps a bite of cranberry relish.
“Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; His mercy endures forever.” (Psalm 118:1)
Rev. Bob Tasler
www.bobtasler.com
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