OH!  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

by

Barbara McKinney

            Here they come, again...the holidays!  In many homes, these  doowahs make moms' and grandmas' stomachs churn. Is there a holy antacid available?  I believe there is.

     Wanting to put what everybody likes on the menu, I asked my granddaughter  what was the one thing  she would miss  if it weren't  at Thanksgiving dinner.  She immediately replied,  "Family."  Children come with a God given perspective that  asserts it is good  to be  with family for celebrations.  When God created the earth  and the  first  family,  I  believe  He  intended for everyone to belong to a group that knew,  loved, valued, and nurtured each  person  in it.   It is a  primary instinct to want to belong. 

            Until wrenched apart  by  the  realities  of  a fallen   world, children assume that family means all that is loving, supportive, and good. But, how hard it is to hostess a group of people who have outgrown the notion that they are there to love each other.  Oh, they come, but only because it is unnatural to stay away and be alone for the holidays.  The gathering  becomes  a ritual  instead  of  a   celebration.

            When we get to heaven and sit at the feast of our Lord, the true meaning of family will be understood. How glorious to belong to God's family.  In the meantime, when we are living in His Spirit and the believers we know are living in His Spirit, we glimpse the family that God intended when He came up with the idea. 

            The closeness we share with our brothers and sisters in Christ finds its source in the example of our Lord, the truth revealed by the Holy Spirit, and the love of God, our Father. If the biological family is also full of the Holy Spirit and love, then Thanksgiving is all it was designed to be, an opportunity to gather together to praise God for all His goodness to us. But, if the natural family is not close to Christ, the bond that began because of shared experiences in family life is  strained as the  individuals grow  up and develop separate life styles, friendships, and political ideologies. Closeness is swallowed up in new identities and loyalties outside of the family. 

            Consider the threat that comes from new in‑laws.  If the family ties are stronger than the loyalty to the new mate, there is pain to the newcomer.  If the loyalty to the new mate is stronger than the family ties, there is the threat of loss to the family.  Either way, serving Thanksgiving dinner can be a real lousy way to spend a Thursday. 

            In the family of God, the mature Christian rejoices with the angels each time a new member is found.  He sees the variety in the family as an expression of the infinite creativity of his heavenly Father.  There is no threat to his own security, because the Father's love is an eternal spring.  And, if the newcomer spills his milk all over the tablecloth, the mature Christian cleans it up and knows that eventually the baby will learn how to drink from a cup.

            So, how does the Christian Grandma or Mom get through the day if the family is not harmonious, but is, in fact, a collection of jerks and whiners?  The first thing is to  read James  1:2‑5 once again:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

            We all are born with the expectation that family gatherings are supposed to be jewels of happy memories.  One day that will be a  reality,  but maybe  not  until  we  get  to our true family gathering  with  the Lord.   In  the meantime, Moms, we are on assignment to draw our natural family into our heavenly family by the  Lord's  light that  must  shine out from us to them.  The members  of  the family  who are walking around in darkness are going to step on everybody's feet.  They are blind. As He hung on the  cross,  Jesus said,  "Father,  forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing…(Lk.23:34a).”

            This is the season for offering the witness of a loving Christian woman to her family.  That's our job.  It is not our job to grieve that the job needs to be done.  It is our job to take these special days and be the example of Christlikeness that will be the memory that the family will have to draw on for their own lives.

            The unique thing about family is that they are always in our zone.  Whose job is it to pray for the family and be the living witness to the family, if not those in the family who have met and been saved by the Lord?  Thanksgiving is just a time to give of your best for the salvation of these neighbors we must love as much as we love ourselves, who happen to be related.

            If all this seems like a tough way to spend what is advertised as a holiday, don't be deceived and then disappointed.  Holidays are work days with overtime for Christian moms and grandmas. The Lord healed on the Sabbath.  We can work overtime on the holidays for our Lord. It is our job to stretch ourselves to the full height of our Savior, who chose to wash the feet of His disciples at His own last supper.

            So, where's the bicarbonate of soda for Mom or Grandma?  Here it is!  Jesus promises, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest(Mt.11:28).”  At the perfect time, He will give us the rest we need.