“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
His love endures forever.” {Psalm 107:1 NIV}
Three years ago, our family hosted Thanksgiving dinner for the first time.
I’d waited a while to do it. We had lived in our 100-year-old farmhouse for more than a decade. We had a formal dining room. I knew how to cook a turkey.
I’d waited a while to do it. We had lived in our 100-year-old farmhouse for more than a decade. We had a formal dining room. I knew how to cook a turkey.
But established traditions called for us to spend Thanksgiving Day with my husband’s side of the family one year and with my parents at their house the next.
That year, we were supposed to be at my parents’, but my mom graciously agreed that my little family could host at our house instead. She and my dad would be our guests, along with my brother and sister-in-law and their two children.
I dreamed of how the day would go. It would be cold and gray and dreary…perfect for a fire in the fireplace and cozy indoor games. We would linger over dinner, taking time to savor each dish and share our thanksgivings around the table.
I would set the stage in the dining room ahead of time and then close the double sliding pocket doors. When our company arrived, I would slide the doors open with a flourish to reveal a Norman Rockwell-esque scene.
“Happy Thanksgiving!” I would declare. Probably, there would be applause. Probably, it would be like a Hallmark movie.
Except, of course, it wasn’t.
Join me over on (in)courage for the rest of this story that I love so much...
I loved this, as I love all your stories (I did click over to (in)courage...((are all these parentheses allowed within the same parenthetical phrase?))--but came back to your page)! Isn't it funny how we plan things in our heads and it doesn't go anything like the plan? You wonder if the scripts got lost in the mail, or if the other actors just didn't bother to read their lines. Or they were reading from an entirely different play. More like Andy Warhol, rather than Norman Rockwell. haha. So, you weren't kidding when you said you picked your husband up in church, huh? Too funny!
ReplyDeleteAwww, thanks, my friend, for taking the detour and then returning here! You are beyond wonderful. Yes, indeed, I had the whole script played out, but the Master Author rewrote it and made it better! And no, I wasn't kidding about picking my husband up in church! I sang a song, he was standing at the back of the sanctuary afterwards, I walked by on my way to nowhere, he said, "I really enjoyed your song this morning, Elizabeth," I launched into the conversation I'd worked out in my head (that DID go as planned!), and we both left and told our families we'd met the person we were going to marry. It was the first time we'd ever met or spoken. ;) Happy Thanksgiving, dear Mary!
DeleteHi Elisabeth, I am blessed visiting you.
ReplyDeleteSometimes unexpected is good and it opens our eyes to beautiful blessings.
Thank you my sweet friend for your sincere and heart warming message.
Happy Thanksgiving
God Bless
Thank you, IFEOMA! I am blessed THAT you visited! :) And YES to this: "Sometimes unexpected is good and it opens our eyes to beautiful blessings"! Beautifully put. Thank you so much for taking time to stop by. Blessings on your day!
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