Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I pray you and yours are well. Our family has been blessed over the years to have my parents come for Thanksgiving. To be sure, they visit more often, but Thanksgiving was when I could count on them being with us.
For me personally, it was always a great time to catch up with my dad on matters of faith. We can easily talk about missions late into the night. I know that I have been so blessed to have a father with a passionate
pursuit of the Great Commission.
As many of you know, I like to use my smoker. I have smoked just about anything you can imagine; at Thanksgiving I will be smoking turkey and ham, of course. In my family, with its farming roots, putting on a big spread is part of the deal.
For Cathy our Thanksgiving family reunion has always been a time of working hard to make the other 20 dishes of food that go with the one item that I have smoked. There is a special warmth in our house as the new decorations go up and the special china and glassware comes out. Often times we have guests at our home for Thanksgiving dinner, in addition to my parents, so our home is usually filled up–something our whole family enjoys.
For my children, seeing their grandparents is filled with smiles and endless card games. We will also have our bingo game, and Cathy gets out the prizes she has put away over the year. The prize table gets a good looking over before the game begins. This is a tradition that Cathy brings from her family to ours, and I have taken my father-in-law’s role of calling the spots on the bingo card.
Thanksgiving is going to be different this year. My parents won’t be with us.
Change comes; change challenges. Change is not always fun. Sometimes change is necessary. Einstein supposedly said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting to get different results.”
What healthy change should happen in your relationships? Your personal walk with Jesus? Will you be a part of the changes in ministry at our church? As Isaiah said, “God is doing a new thing…” God makes all things new in Christ. May our God comfort you in your change.
V/r,
Pastor Jim