Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving 2009

I'm up in God's Country for Thanksgiving this year. For those in denial or are unenlightened, God's Country is the most accurate description of Kansas that you can find in God's dictionary. What a marvelous day this is. Everyone is thankful for family and friends. It seems everyone wakes up intentionally thankful. It is a gift we offer others around us. But just wait.

In 24 hours we will be back to normal life. Hi ho, hi ho, its off to work we go with the normal everyday attitude. We will brace ourselves for the onslaught of "Black Friday" shopping not with the attitude of thankfulness but with a rush to beat everyone else to the best deal on the corner. Family and friends are a distant thought as it becomes all about me and my circumstances (stuck in traffic one block away from that great bargain.)
Hey folks, let's see some of that intentional thankfulness come forth from every pore of our bodies everyday in every situation towards all people.

Mostly this Thanksgiving I am overwhelmed at the goodness of God. My departed wife Joyce (departed sounds so much better than dead) spent the last 4.5 years of her life cultivating the presence of god in her life. One of the lasting treasures she left me and others is the reality of His presence in everyday life. The closeness of His presence with the accompanied graces of peace and joy is really such a very precious gift from the Almighty. He is so personal, so full of vitality and life that He cannot help but share Himself with others. And I am overwhelmed with gratitude that He would share Himself with me.

A first for me happened the other day. The Valley View Fellowship of Churches held a community Thanksgiving dinner last Sunday night. It was a pot-luck affair so I had to actually cook something to take with me for my contribution to the meal. Guess what? Every last morsel of my dish was consumed! Wow, what I great cook I am. they liked my dish! Maybe I ought to get my own cooking show. But alas, here is the rest of the story. there was a greater turnout than expected which translated into more people than food. So every morsel on the table was consumed by the time the last person went through the line. (Note: There was plenty of desert left on the desert table.) So I really don't know if my dish was consumed because of its tastiness or because of the desperate situation of the food supply. Whichever it may be, I'll believe it was because of my prowess as a budding chef!

November has been such a blur of activity that I haven't blogged but twice this month. I will do better in posting more in December. The Advent season begins this coming Sunday. Christmas music will officially begin then. But in reality, Christmas music is a staple throughout the year in the 'Hall Nuthouse'. Nevertheless, with the beginning of Advent, people don't look at your strangely when Christmas music is playing.


It is time to end this blog, get dressed and go upstairs and interact with the rest of the family. Besides this, I want to go outside and enjoy
God's Country!

Blessings.

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