Holiday Helpings

Posted by Debra | 0 comments

Here’s my confession:  Thanksgiving is my least favorite holiday.

Naturally, I have my reasons.  First of all, I think that after 22 years of school it became more about completing major homework projects than it was about gratefulness or family bonding.  Secondly, the whole day centers around preparing, eating and then digesting one meal.  While I appreciate the simplicity of the day, the feast isn’t enough to draw Thanksgiving close to my heart.  Finally, the rest of the day is all about American football and I very simply dislike the whole sport.   Work, food and football do not create in me a cause for celebration.

Two years ago, I was determined to change the face of Thanksgiving for my young family. Though I did think it was important to set aside a day of thanks and praise to God for his goodness in all circumstances, I found that my “praise language” was acts of service and my hands, on this day, had always been idle.  In that year, there wasn’t going to be a huge family gathering — just my little clan and my parents – and there also wasn’t going to be a meal provided at the Rescue Mission in our city.  Other friends from our little missional church wanted to do something outside of ourselves and so we coordinated with the Rescue Mission food supervisor to provide a Thanksgiving evening meal.  He took the ball and ran with the planning of it while we all showed up, prepped, served and cleaned the kitchen so he could go home to his own family.  It probably seemed like a fair deal, but we got the blessing out of it.

Several things transpired from this experience. One, our own family meal was much simpler and healthier, which is much more to my liking than the typical annual gorge.  Second, while I worked next to my dad, I heard him tell stories about how he used to do the same type of service when I was young — stories I’d never heard before. Third, not only did my children work at my side, taking dirty dishes and trays to the kitchen, wiping down tables, and handing out treat bags, but they gave me a conversational touch-point with the men who wanted to tell me all about their own children out there… somewhere.  Finally, ministry happened, needs were met, bellies filled – but I expected that.

I finally felt like this was the way Thanksgiving should feel: purposeful, intentional and affirming.

With every piece of pie I put on a plate I was thankful for the life that was going to receive it.  I understood that God’s purposes come alive in our willing acts of service and considerate awareness of each other.  I learned that my story isn’t any cleaner or dirtier than the stories of others and that all of them told together are, indeed, cause for celebration.

I still feel antsy about Thanksgiving. This year we will be celebrating by ourselves in our newish home in Colorado.  But there’s a service project in the works that has something to do with feeding those less fortunate than myself.  You can be that’s where I’ll be and if Thanksgiving becomes more about redemption, grace and service, all the better.

Debra Anderson has three sons ages 11 and younger. Her passions are education, mentoring, her husband, writing, church ministry and missional living — not in that order. She has her seminary Masters degree in Christian Education, is married to her pastor-husband of 16 years, and resides in their newish home in Denver, CO. In spite of moves between four different states, she has always home educated her boys — even on the hard days. She maintains a blog at www.emergent-homeschool.blogspot.com.