“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.”                Psalm 100:4

TV Dinner Thanksgiving

When I was about 12 or so, my mom had what should have been a simple surgery a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. Due to some poor decision-making on the surgeon’s part, it actually turned into more than a six-week long ordeal.

I became the Thanksgiving dinner chef, of sorts. My mom was a very good cook, and had always made everything from scratch. But… I was not my mom. So our menu consisted of turkey TV dinners and a Mrs. Smith’s pumpkin pie.

I vaguely remember going to the store with my dad and picking out what we thought we needed. I vaguely remember cooking the dinners and the pie (thankfully without burning them too much). I don’t remember what they tasted like, which I’m sure isn’t a bad thing.

What I really remember is being so thankful our family was still together, my mom was home and although she was in a lot of pain and needed a lot of help, she was there.

Pretty much every November she reminds me of that TV dinner Thanksgiving we had 40 years ago. It is a fond memory now, a memory of a family coming together in a tough time with what they had to offer. In this particular case, it was frozen food and a lot of love. It’s the love part she remembers most.

So ladies, this year let’s try not to worry so much about everything being perfect (for starters, it never is). Let’s just make a point to offer what we have, no matter how simple or grand, with a lot of love. That’s what people will remember most anyway.

“Dear Lord, help us to take a step back this Thanksgiving, to focus on You and Your love, and the blessings You so freely give us, to be thankful, and to bless Your name. Let it not be so much about what is served, but who we serve it to, Whose name we serve it in, and how much love we serve it with. Amen.”