I love Thanksgiving!
I love food…sometimes even more than I love people! I love the flavors and textures, the sensations of chewing & swallowing delicious & creamy morsels of decadent indulgence. There’s a lot more to food than simple survival and nourishment. There’s a full-ness I associate with Thanksgiving feasts that brings me warm fuzzies. All Thanksgiving meals end with me feeling so overly satiated that I’m honestly a bit uncomfortable for awhile. It’s my annual gorging event.
Indulging in good food & drink makes me feel physically full…temporarily rotund…and generates thanks.
Thanksgiving means mud football, which appeals to the adventurous sport-o in me…although the risk of injury gets closer & scarier each year. Running & throwing & tackling relatives & friends in the mud…throwing passes to my fleet-footed children & nieces & nephew whom I held as infants…Watching with pride as my beautiful & sophisticated wife laughs uncontrollably while being caked & spattered with mud. That’s good stuff. It awakens something in me that gives me joy and hope.
Being zany is good for the soul of us who must act like adults in this serious world…it generates thanks.
I love being with family…catching up on what’s going on, but mostly recalling old memories that are cherished. I have flashbacks every year of Thanksgivings past with aunts & uncles, with Grampa Bob, playing hide & seek with my cousins. Holidays like Thanksgiving create a direct connection with my childhood…which for me is mostly fond memories.
Cherished memories make me feel socially full…with a grin….and generates thanks.
When I’m filled to overflowing with thanks, it gushes out to others all around me. That’s how it’s supposed to work…that’s how God designed it. He creates and provides, we receive and are filled with thanks, then we share what we’ve received with others.
In a world that constantly beckons & pulls us to believe we need more to be happy, I love the opportunity Thanksgiving provides us to examine the treasures we already have, express our gratitude to God, and experience the pleasure of loving others. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
