The long folding table looked at home in the living room, set festive for the Thanksgiving meal. The dining room table, dressed to match, welcomed eight more people. Nineteen found more than a meal at Ralph and Chris’s home. We all needed a place to belong.
Back in North Carolina with my brothers, I felt like a kid, more than forty years gone, since we’d shared Thanksgiving. Who knows what separates, makes staying away easier than coming together. Sometimes you just have to skip over the questions and get to the table before dinner gets cold, or worse.
This year, Hope and Grace came.
As my brother, Dan, said before heading back home on Friday, ” It was good.”
And it was Good.
Choosing to remember the good that was, to believe for good to come.
Thanksgiving morning I read from Luke 22 in the Message something Jesus said to his disciples, “You’ve no idea how much I’ve looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you…” A few hours later, seated beside my brother, I thought, “I’ve missed you. You’ve no idea how much I’ve looked forward to…”
Remember pushing up the sides of your mashed potatoes, creating a fortress to capture the gravy? Grace, like gravy, fills up the hollows, seeps through the walls.
Thanksgiving’s past. The folding table’s back at church. No more leftovers. All the remains is what matters most, the memory of a simply Good day together, and the reminder that anything’s possible when Hope and Grace come to the table and stay.
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Jan,
You and the Lord have been faithful in pursuing Dan. This was a special day of coming together and I am sure, in your love, you were prepared to do some feet washing.
Praise and Thanksgiving go well together.
Dale
Oh thanks be to Jesus!!!! I’m so happy to read this. I have a smile from my mouth to the depths of my heart! God is good! <3 And I love this: "Remember pushing up the sides of your mashed potatoes, creating a fortress to capture the gravy? Grace, like gravy, fills up the hollows, seeps through the walls." Yes!! Love you! Hugs!
Wendy and Dale said it perfectly, Janny! All of us who know your story are full of gratitude and I added some goosebumps up and down my arms too! 🙂 Only God could have orchestrated this reunion on Thanksgiving when hearts are open and ready
to receive –as if we haven’t already received far more than we deserve! Simply rejoicing these days are yours to hold dear…always, Janny! Love, Gail