Thanksgiving Day Welcome!
Gather together the generations from
the tiniest baby, to the teenagers sprouting,
middle-agers greying, and the oldest ones.
Seat the children at the shorter kid’s table
where they’ll gobble little while giggling greatly
then run off to play as parents before them.
Direct the oldest where they can best hear
and share the stories of old. Soon enough we become
the respected vintage ones as well!
Remember to be grateful for the lives of
the ones who used to carve the turkey at the head
of the table and pass slices of white and dark.
Evoke the images of those who would
direct the preparing of the meal before it was
expected of you. And be thankful.
If you’re lucky a younger one will show
interest and ask you, as one of the elders present,
“How were Thanksgiving Days when you were young?”
Tell me a story about how my mom or dad
drove you crazy back when they were my age and don’t
leave out any juicy or exciting details!
Prepare ahead of time how you’ll answer the question
“What do you recall about Thanksgiving way back in the days
when you were still young and having fun growing up?”
Ultimately, pray in gratitude to the
One who created each of these Children of God.
Be attentive to each moment and love well!
Give thanks for another year!
Psalm 100*
1 Be joyful in the Lord, * all you lands;
2 serve the Lord with gladness
and come into the divine presence with a song.
3 Know this: the Lord, the Lord, is God; *
the One made us and to whom we belong;
we are God’s people, the sheep of God’s pasture.
4 Enter the gates of the Lord with thanksgiving; go into these courts with praise; *
give thanks to God and call upon the name of the Lord. 5 For the Lord is good, whose steadfast love is everlasting; *
and whose faithfulness endures from age to age.
A Small Town Thanksgiving
The week of Thanksgiving can be one of joy and gladness as we choose to remember the good times and be attentive to what we are grateful for each day.
As a child, Thanksgiving was one of my favorite holidays. Our aunt and uncle set up banquet tables that had been borrowed from the church in their living room. Uncle Will, sporting a very wide tie, came with a smile. There were bear hugs, laughter, and a huge family that served up way too much food. My mother and her sister stayed up most of the night talking and laughing. They stuffed the turkey and began roasting the big bird before 4 am. It took a lot of turkey to feed that many hungry folks!
After dinner the kids would take a walk about the small town of Niobrara. Over and over, we would burn up youthful energy by climbing up the fire escape tube and then sliding back down again. Some years there was a Husker football game on after dinner. There were extremely excited fans in our family! And I was the one under a table fast asleep after too much pumpkin pie, playtime, and a need for a quiet space
I pray that you smile when remembering with all your senses the Thanksgiving celebrations of years gone by, that you will linger in conversations, and be aware of the abundant blessings of our God.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Marta
Rev. Marta Wheeler
To view or download a PDF version of this devotional, click here: Devotional MW 2021-11-23
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