Thanksgiving Traditions

The holiday season is upon us. From my perspective as a grandparent, I have a lot of family holiday memories; some are great, some are not so great. My Proverbs reading today, Chapter seventeen, verse one, stirred up many of those old memories. It reads: Better is a dry morsel with quietness than a house full of feasting with strife. The common denominator between Biblical times and our contemporary traditional family gathering is people; food and people.

We have Hallmark commercials and Norman Rockwell showing us what an ideal family meal might look like. We have grand expectations of a picture perfect Thanksgiving with multiple generations gathered around a bountiful table. Then people show up and reality sets in. Life is not like a sixty second commercial and we are setting ourselves up for disappointment when we think it should be.

I love to cook, love to have a kitchen full of family bustling around in harmony to get everything done; working together like a fine tuned watch. In my world there are those of us that work toward making that happen, and then there are those that sit in the other room visiting while we are making that happen. Interestingly enough, it seems the line that divides in the preparation is also the line that divides when it comes time to cleaning up, as well. It is not gender specific; it is not age related.

I considered counting up the number of able-bodied people attending such an event over the age of, say five. Five year olds can place napkins around the table, train them to be a part of the solution. Anyway, as people come in, have them draw a bean out of a small bowl which contains two types of beans. All of the brown bean holders are now the Prep people and the white bean holders are the Clean-up people. Yes, I’ve considered that but some will show up at the last minute or late…not conducive to the Prep group…..and often with their contribution not ready to be served. Throws the timing of the meal and the ‘bean plan’ right out of the window! Soon, those not doing the prep work start milling around because they are hungry. They want to snack on the food the Prep people have been trying to get to the table! This is usually the point where I start slapping hands and ordering people out of the kitchen unless they have a spoon stirring a pot.

One year in a moment of total frustration, my daughter announced that no one, NO ONE could have dessert until the kitchen was cleaned up from lunch. She’s a genius! The flurry of activity that followed was astounding.

Every family comes complete with frustrating times and characters. Yet, we love each one and look forward to the next time we gather our chicks. Love overrides it all. God gave us family to begin with and we have so very much for which to be thankful. Whatever other traditions you pass on to your family, make sure the Lord is primary among them. Isaiah 59:21 says:

As for Me, this is My covenant or league with them, says the Lord: My Spirit, Who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouths of your children, or out of the mouths of your children’s children, says the Lord, from henceforth and forever. Pass that around the table!