The One Thing to Remember This Thanksgiving

This will be my third year hosting Thanksgiving. Year one started out stressful just because of the pressure I put on myself but it turned out to be a fantastic day and I actually got to enjoy the food and company. Year two again started out stressful because it was 2020 and, well, we know most things in 2020 came with some sort of craziness. But despite the stress of making sure we had a smaller gathering than normal and putting in extra work like separating out tables, it was still a truly enjoyable holiday and I was just relieved to still get to celebrate with some of my family.

As I approach year three of hosting Thanksgiving, I can’t help but breathe a bit easier than I have the past two years. It’s not my first rodeo so I am coming into it with the confidence that our turkey will be delicious and that we will have enough pie. All things that I remember being so concerned about with year one. And while we are still in a pandemic, it is nothing like it was last year. All things are pointing to this year being a success yet again but maybe even with the absence of that stress I initially had the past couple of years.

Last week, I sat down to write out my Thanksgiving plan including my shopping list, what I could prep the day before and what times I needed to start cooking certain items the day of. Full transparency, my husband actually enjoys taking the lead on the turkey and he does it well so I gladly give him the reigns on this which clearly is a tremendous weight off of me. Making this list helps my head to ensure I am scrambling as little as possible at 2pm when our guests start arriving.

As I was jotting everything down and getting excited for the holiday season, I felt this wave of something come over me. It was like a mix of emotions and also this sense that I was forgetting something. This caused me to perforate off another sheet of paper and re-write my list thinking that whatever I was forgetting would jump out at me. It didn’t.

Staring at my list, I felt another wave of something come over me. It was one of those moments where I didn’t actually hear a voice but I felt a voice. I paused to let myself feel it.

Be thankful.

Thank you, Lord for that reminder! I was focusing so much on the logistics of hosting Thanksgiving that the true importance wasn’t even on my radar.

This holiday season, I pray that we remember to be thankful. Whether we are trying to host the perfect feast or find the perfect gift as we approach the Christmas holiday; that we remember none of that stuff truly matters. It’s only stuff. I pray to keep my ears open to those voices reminding me to be thankful for things like health, family, friends and faith.

Lord, I hope to remember things like what time to put the turkey in but most of all, I pray that I don’t forget to be thankful.