Perfectly Practical #183 - Finding Thanks to Give
Our first Thanksgiving in England was well, a disaster due to my distinct lack of culinary prowess.
Prowess nothing! Heck, culinary knowledge at all!
I didn't thaw the turkey or ham before I put them in the oven so my British guests (who are great cooks) were starving and dinner was eaten very, very late. Lucky for me, the British are a stiff-upper-lip-and-get-on-with-it sort of bunch and we ate dessert first.
From that experience, I learned that there is always thanks to give.
Even though I was mortified and just wanted to curl up in a corner and cry, my precious friends helped me make the best of the situation. In that moment, I was thankful for their resourcefulness (we carved the outside bits of the ham and left the rest of it to cook) their flexibility (no one seemed to mind eating dessert first - especially the kids) and their grace.
Soon, our Thanksgiving gathering outgrew our little house, so our sweet friends opened up their home for our celebration.
Again, instead of grumbling about the size of our house, there was thanks to give for the generosity and kindness of our friends.
When times are difficult emotionally, physically, financially, or spiritually, finding thanks to give seems equally difficult.
But...
If you have someone who loves you - give thanks.
If you have clean running water - give thanks.
If you are a student - give thanks.
If you are a parent - give thanks.
If you have shoes - give thanks.
If you have food in your fridge - give thanks.
If you can read this - give thanks.
Maybe the greatest thanks should be for the smallest notions, like eating dessert first.
This is part of WFMW.
Amen to all of these. We can always be more grateful and thankful. Lord knows I need to be. That is my goal for always but especially this ending season. To be more grateful and helpful to others.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I make it a point in our house to not gloss over Thanksgiving. It's hard with all of the activities not to get caught up in the whirlwind. We try and make sure that we are especially thankful for what we have and hope to help others meet their needs.
DeleteThanks for this reminder. I quite often forget to be thankful for the little things.
ReplyDeleteDon't we all Ms. Jennifer. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteI'd be fine with eating dessert first, too!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, a lot of times we get so caught up in Thanksgiving prep that we forget the "thanks" and "giving" parts. Appreciate your reminder to slow down and focus.
Dessert first maybe should be a Thanksgiving tradition. :)
DeleteWhat a lovely post - and you'll never forget that first dinner! I managed to turn the crockpot off when I thought I was turning it down and didn't realise for hours! CHeers
ReplyDeleteI certainly won't forget that first Thanksgiving! :) Oh, that is the pits isn't it when you adjust the temperature the wrong way. Thanks for dropping by!
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