Tag Archives: Thanksgiving

Wayfarer's Journal

Thanksgiving 2012

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I must say that Thanksgiving 2012 has been one of the more odd holiday weekends for Wendy and me simply because it’s mostly been a quiet weekend just the two of us. The one family gathering we had was on Friday night when we helped host Wendy’s mom’s family at a potluck. We’d managed to rent some space in our church for everyone to gather and kind of took charge of making sure everything went okay for everyone. It did.

My goodness. It’s hard to believe these two bath rats are celebrating Maddy Kate’s 21st birthday this weekend.

The rest of the family spread out this year. Madison is in Colorado Springs and celebrated her 21st birthday on Thanksgiving Day this year (Woohoo! Happy Bday MADDY!). Taylor flew out to Colorado to spend the weekend with her little sister and to have a girls weekend.

Most of the VW clan were in Chicago at Terry & Bonnie’s for the holiday. We were bummed to have missed it, but having to be home on Friday to help with the Roozeboom festivities would have made it a crazy quick trip. My brother Tim also missed the festivities. He’s been working in Texas and stayed down there to celebrate Thanksgiving with Kumi.

Dad Hall & Suzanna are in Germany to see Josh and Kirtana.

Wendy’s family was also spread out. Her dad and sister flew to Germany to see Josh, who’s serving in the military there. They’re also the first to meet the newest member of the Hall clan, Kirtana, whom Josh married in Nepal back in August. With Jesse still in Germany, Heidi & Sophie in Florida, Luke in Tennessee to see his girlfriend, and Nathan and Bonnie in Oklahoma, there were precious few of the Hall clan around with whom to celebrate.

So, Wendy and settled in and decided to try and be productive on our long weekend alone. We did a massive house cleaning on Thursday and then I put a few steaks on the grill that evening, we opened a nice bottle of wine, and we sat down to a candlelit dinner for two followed by a lazy evening finishing up the first season of Downton Abbey on Netflix.

This is what decorations looked like when we got them out yesterday morning. They still look pretty much the same this morning. I think we’re behind on the task list.

Friday was supposed to be decorating for Christmas Day, but our morning errands to Wal-Mart and Hy-Vee got out of hand. Then Wendy had to bake and prepare for our Roozeboom potluck, the USP Box Office phone started to ring (Wendy and I ARE the virtual USP Box Office), and Mom Hall showed up in time to watch the Iowa State game. Needless to say, the living room is still full of decoration boxes and a half-decorated Christmas Tree is sitting in the middle of the room. We scurried off to an enjoyable gathering with the Roozebooms. It was 10:00 when Wendy and I got home and I made the mistake of turning on the television to find that the movie Moneyball had just started on one of the movie channels. Wendy sat on the couch next to me and next thing you know it was Midnight.

Today we finish decorating and continue on a long list of honey-dos. The weekend is scheduled to be a combination of chores and relaxation. We’ll see how it all goes. I can already tell that we’re not going to accomplish anywhere near the number of to-dos we had on the list at the beginning of the weekend. C’est la vie.

I hope that anyone reading this post has enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones wherever find yourself.

Chapter-a-Day

No Satisfaction

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Chapter-a-Day Psalm 63

You satisfy me more than the richest feast.
    I will praise you with songs of joy.
Psalm 63:5 (NLT)

Seriously. Aren’t we all just looking for satisfaction?

We strive for satisfaction in our jobs and never really find satisfaction with the amount of money in our paycheck. We want satisfaction from our spouse and in our marriages. We seek to be satisfied by our kids, our friendships, and our church. We’d kill for a satisfying night’s sleep. Many of us are entering this Thanksgiving Day will all sorts of expectations of how family, food, and football will fill us up. But, as the Rolling Stones so wonderfully remind us, satisfaction is elusive.

Sometimes this chapter-a-day journey provides just the perfect touch of synchronicity. How poignant on a day of Thanksgiving feasting to read this verse from Psalm 63. I’m reminded this morning that satisfaction can even elude us on a day when we’re supposed to stop and be thankful for all with which we’ve been blessed, and all with which we are called to be content.

As Wendy and I sit down to share a Thanksgiving meal together today,  Psalm 63:5 will be my prayer.

P.S. Among the many things for which I want to express gratitude today are those of you who take the time to read this blog once in a while and share the journey with me. Some of you I know. Others of you choose to quietly lurk, and that’s cool, too. Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving.

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Call to Gratitude: Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation

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Abraham Lincoln, three-quarter length portrait...
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Chapter-a-Day Psalm 50

“But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.
    If you keep to my path,
    I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”
Psalm 50:23 (NLT)

For those of us in the U.S., the Thanksgiving holiday is just a few weeks away. Today’s chapter reminds us multiple times that God is honored by “sacrifices of thanks.” I believe if we were truly honest we would admit to giving little thought to the act of actually giving thanks on Thanksgiving. Despite a nod to sharing one thing we’re thankful for before we dig in to our meal, I tend to believe that our hearts and minds are more typically filled with thoughts of food, football and black friday shopping.

When Abraham Lincoln issued his proclamation making Thanksgiving an official holiday, he was clearly calling U.S. citizens, divided in two by a terrible Civil War, to a day of humble and sincere thanks-giving to God. In the days before a national election, when it seems that our nation is largely divided into two camps of thought and engaged in a war of words, I think it might be beneficial for us all to read Lincoln’s plea for ourselves [note: italics added]:

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,
Secretary of State

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Chapter-a-Day Psalm 23

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Quiet conversation on the dock.

…he leads me beside quiet waters….
Psalm 23:2b (NIV)

My friends and family know that life has been a little bit of crazy for Wendy and me this summer. Nothing bad, mind you. Thank God, we are well and the craziness has not been the result of tragedy or ill circumstance. In fact, it’s been quite the opposite. Business for us has been the best it’s been since the recession began in 2008. New projects seem to pop up unexpectedly. Our little community theatre, where we both serve as board members, is producing some great shows, was recently awarded for an outstanding show, and has a silver anniversary celebration coming up for which we’re largely responsible. Our Playhouse has been buzzing with activity this summer which requires some unique work and stress of its own. We are are so blessed at the moment.

On the back door of our house is a mezuzah. If you don’t know to look for it, you might not notice it’s there. It’s a small box that, in the Jewish tradition, is fixed to the door post of your house to remind you of God’s message as you go in and out. Our mezuzah is ceramic, and I bought it in a little hole-in-the-wall shop off the narrow streets of Old Jerusalem in Israel. Inside the mezuzah are various verses from God’s Message. Along with the traditional verses, Wendy and I each picked out a few of our own to put in there when we hung it a few years back.

Calling Wendy from my hotel last night, she asked me if I remember the verses she picked to put in there. I did not. She reminded me that one of the verses says:

Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. Malachi 3:10b (NIV)

With that we spent a few minutes counting and naming our blessings and uttering a quick prayer of thanks. Our crazy summer is not the result of bad things but good things. We are scrambling to keep up with our blessings, and we don’t want to take that for granted. Things can turn on a dime. We are so grateful.

Today’s chapter are the familiar lyrics of the 23rd Psalm. I know them well. In fact, as I slogged down to the hotel lobby, still half-asleep, to fill my travel mug with coffee I began mulling over the words in my mind from memory. I came to “he leads me beside quiet waters” and immediately my heart was on the dock at the lake as the sun rises behind the trees at the back of the cove. The quiet waters of the lake have always been a place of peace for me. The gentle lull of the waves are the conduit for God’s spiritually restorative powers.

I’m feeling weary this morning and I’m appreciatively taking refuge in God’s promise to lead me to restful places beside quiet waters. In 48 hours, God willing, I’ll be on that dock as Wendy and I entertain good friends at the lake this weekend. Until then, I’ll seek my rest in God’s presence and promises.

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Chapter-a-Day Psalm 18

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Thank You Trash...
Thank You Trash… (Photo credit: Daniel Slaughter)

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
    His faithful love endures forever.
Psalm 18:1 & 29 (NLT)

Wendy and I found ourselves in conversation yesterday about our blessings. We were discussing a person whose Facebook posts seem endlessly full of “glass half empty” angst at how difficult life is for them. It prompted a great discussion between us about blessing and thanksgiving. Even looking back at my blog posts and Facebook posts, I think about what they say about my attitudes in every day life. I’ve been griping a lot about the travel industry lately as I’ve gotten delayed and rerouted in my business travels. It’s so easy to fall into griping mode in my momentary frustration and ignore the fact that I’m so grateful for a great job and wonderful clients who hire me.

Everyone’s life is full of hardship on different levels, and we all need to vent once in a while when we’re feeling burdened. God tells us to cast our cares on Him because He cares for us. But, even when I’m going through a tough time I try to remind myself each and every day how abundantly blessed I am. In a land where Thanksgiving is celebrated as a once a year holiday, I attempt to celebrate it every day in my spirit through my prayers and my attitude.

Today, I’m thankful for the abundant blessings I take for granted. Things like life, health, safety, home, loving family, wonderful friends, good community, clean water, food, air conditioning, and choices.

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Chapter-a-Day Deuteronomy 15

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The First Thanksgiving Jean Louis Gerome Ferris
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Give freely and spontaneously. Don’t have a stingy heart. The way you handle matters like this triggers God, your God’s, blessing in everything you do, all your work and ventures. There are always going to be poor and needy people among you. So I command you: Always be generous, open purse and hands, give to your neighbors in trouble, your poor and hurting neighbors. Deuteronomy 15:10-11 (MSG)

As a child my parents signed us up to provide food for Thanksgiving to a family who couldn’t afford it. I still remember driving with my mother to a section of town that we had always driven through. I remember the house with the run down porch and handing the bags of groceries, the frozen turkey, the cans of cranberry sauce and green beans over to a woman I did not know, whom I would never see again.

I remember my Great Aunt telling me of my grandfather. There were some terrible years after her divorce. Each time my grandparents drove the 200 miles to visit,  she said she would clean her apartment the next week and find a fifty dollar bill on top of the refrigerator. Knowing that her pride would never allow her to accept a freely given handout, my grandfather would slip the gift on top of the refrigerator where it wouldn’t be seen until cleaning day.

I remember a friend who, just a few years ago, told me in a passing comment what a miser she considered me to be. It was said in off-hand jest, but I perceived the sincerity of the jab. She really does consider me to be miserly.

And there is the rub. On one hand is the legacy, passed on to me by previous generations, of grace and generosity which I so desire be and to carry on; the desire to be the person described in today’s chapter giving freely and spontaneously: open, purse, open hands. On the other hand is the reality of a sinful and stingy heart that others see and perceive in me and my actions. I feel constantly the tension between Jesus’ challenge to give everything away and my heart’s penchant for hoarding everything for myself.

Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Some days I am gratefully reminded that this is a journey and I have not arrived. I am not the person God desires, nor the person I, myself, desire. The work of molding and shaping is not complete. I am a work in progress. The key is to keep moving forward letting the regular motion of the journey keep my heart pliable like clay that is constantly worked in the hands of the potter. If I stop for too long and choose not to press on, then things sit and slowly begin to dry out and harden.

Here we go.

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Chapter-a-Day Judges 7

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Give thanks. God said to Gideon, "You have too large an army with you. I can't turn Midian over to them like this—they'll take all the credit, saying, 'I did it all myself,' and forget about me." Judges 7:2 (MSG)

As I write this post, plans for Thanksgiving are in full swing. In just over two weeks we will gather with family and friends to share in a feast and to give thanks. I've always loved Thanksgiving. Unlike most holidays, there is something about Thanksgiving that still repels commercialism. Thanksgiving is a humble holiday. It is a simple holiday. It is one of the few holidays we celebrate that still lends itself to introspection.

In a culture steeped in rugged individualism, self-seeking, and the perpetual pursuit of 15 minutes of fame, I find the idea of stopping to give thanks is a welcome moment of sanity. Like Gideon's army, we are at constant risk of taking all the credit for what God has done to bless us.

Several centuries ago, Thomas a' Kempis wrote a wonderful treatise on the difference between nature and grace. "Nature willingly accepts honor and respect," he wrote, "while grace attributes all honor and glory to God."

Today, I'm mindful of the many ways my natural self seeks to hoard respect and glory for myself. I'm reminding myself that God deserves all respect, honor, glory…and thanks.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and soulrider

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Chapter-a-Day Exodus 36

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Harvest time in a land of plenty. All the artisans who were at work making everything involved in constructing the Sanctuary came, one after another, to Moses, saying, "The people are bringing more than enough for doing this work that God has commanded us to do!" Exodus 36:4-5 (MSG)

It's harvest time in Iowa as I write this post. For those of us who have grown up in the mid-west, harvest is woven into our sub-conscious tapestry of our experience. An army of green, red, blue and gold combines and tractors spread out across the fertile hills and valleys. Each day the entire landscape changes hue and texture as grain is harvested. The tall, golden stalks of corn that were there yesterday are gone tomorrow. Fields are laid low as mountains of harvested grain appear outside of towns and local co-ops.

Another bumper crop. A bountiful harvest.

I thought of that this morning as I read of the offerings for the Tent of Dwelling. "More than enough." What a great message to receive. We have an abundance. Needs are met. Coffers are filled. Grain bins are bursting.

We are so blessed and I, too often, take it for granted.

God, I have all that I need, and then some. I have more than enough. Teach me contentment. And, by the way, thank you.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and newshour