Thanksgiving - the other white meat

Thanskgiving is an interesting holiday. As a kid, I didn’t care about the food, I just liked getting out of school. It also signaled the beginning of the Christmas season, so I definitely liked that.

I remember one time when I was about 5 years old and the whole family was gathered at my grandma’s house for Thanksgiving. All of the kids were outside and one of my older cousins suggested we take some sticks and “swordfight”. The first duel was to be between me and my younger cousin, Scott. Well, apparently no one explained to me that this was a “pretend” swordfight, so when we were told “go”, I proceeded to jab Scott as hard as I could in the stomach with my stick. Of course, he immediately started bawling and ran inside to his mom. Not good. I probably didn’t get any dessert that year. (Our favorite dessert as kids was a CoolWhip/KoolAid/Mandarin Orange concoction called “Orange Stuff.”)

We also had a strange tradition of walking down the railroad tracks. You see, my grandma lived near a set of train tracks. After lunch, the kids would always walk down the tracks as far as we could. Of course, we would also put pennies on the track so that a train would smash them down. (Thankfully we never derailed a train…) There was also some strange rumor that we started about a crazed hobo that should be avoided at all costs. Of course, I would never let my kids walk down railroad tracks by themselves today. I guess that was just a different time.

My grandma passed away last December, but the entire family still gathers together. (We actually moved the gathering away from her small house several years ago, so no more train tracks.) So today, we gathered for Thanksgiving at my mom’s house in Holdenville (OK). After lunch and the usual small talk a group of us decided to head over to the railroad tracks near my grandma’ s old house. I took Maitlyn with me and so passed on the tradition of walking down the tracks to my daughter. It didn’t take nearly as long to walk to where the highway passes over the tracks as I remembered from my childhood…

Of course, now as an adult I have a different perspective on the purpose of Thanksgiving. It is a day to remember how God has blessed us and give thanks. Duh. It only took me a couple of decades to realize that one. I am truly thankful for many things…

I’m thankful for my lovely wife. She loves me unconditionally and is an outstanding mother to our children. I’m thankful for my children. They are truly a blessing from God in my life. I’m thankful for The Grove, my church. I’m thankful that God chooses to use me to accomplish His purposes there. I am thankful for God’s creation. I love how creatively diverse it is. I love mountains – especially the smell of pine trees as I hike near them. I love the beautiful colors of autumn. I am thankful that God has called me, redeemed me and is in the process of sanctifying me. I am unworthy to have a relationship with the one who is most worthy.

There is so much more that I am thankful for. These things are just a small scratch on the surface. It is the day to give thanks. It is my aim to do just that.

I’m hungry for another piece of pumpkin pie… my thanksgiving vice. Now I just gotta find the CoolWhip…