by Barbara Rainey
The Monday after Thanksgiving is like a hinge. I'm cleaning—again—putting away all my fall decor and switching gears from one holiday to the next. And I'm remembering.
It seems to have gone so fast. All the weeks of anticipation and preparation for having my six children, their spouses, the 13 grandkids, plus our neighbor to our house for Thanksgiving culminated in a very busy but surprisingly smooth day. Everyone arrived by 10 a.m., and we began our time with a scavenger hunt for all the kids. The weather was perfect, cool and crisp. There were no accidents, no tears from the losing team, and prizes for all.
Knowing we could never keep the attention of 11 children under the age of 6, we chose to have a very simple quiz bowl instead of reading the Thanksgiving story from my book, Thanksgiving: A Time To Remember. The time with our grandkids ended with our living room littered with M&M wrappers, pine needles that came in on little shoes, and all the leaves, twigs, and rocks from the scavenger hunt lined up on the coffee table. As you can see, attention span was an issue.
Our feast and sharing of our personal thanks to God began soon after noon and was a great success. It worked! We fit 23 of us around two pushed together tables with the four oldest boys at the kitchen island and two little ones in high chairs, and we completed our collective thanksgiving with minimal interruption.
While I will be forever grateful for the day itself, it's the little things, the less-planned-for moments in the days prior and following that became the big things, the memories and miracles I will treasure. In our family we often ask each other the question, "What were your top three memories or favorite times?" Another way of reviewing life is to ask, "What is your high and low of the day?" So here are my top three memories of Thanksgiving 2009.
1. Far surpassing the other memories for me is the time I had with three of my daughters to pray for one of them who had had a very difficult experience several months ago. We spent the day Tuesday doing some shopping and having coffee and tea at a local cupcake shop and on our way home stopped in a local park just to ask her how we could pray for her. She shared a few thoughts but mostly said she just didn't know. As the sun was setting and the car was darkening we prayed together for her. It was peaceful and bonding and spoke love to her more than we expected. In the days that followed last week I saw a lightening of her countenance, a joy returning to her soul. It was truly a miracle of God's Spirit bringing healing and hope to one we love so dearly. It will be a lasting treasure .
2. My second memory was the joy of living together again under one roof.
Yes, the house was a wreck by Sunday night, but it did not matter. To see my four children and their families who were able to stay through the weekend laughing together, playing together, dreaming about the future together with the eight cousins becoming great buddies was a delight.
3. Like my list of things for which I am grateful, I could write about many more than just three memories, but that is part of the game. I must choose three knowing the list could go on and on. And so my third highlight is the moment our daughter and son-in-law revealed the results of the 18-week ultrasound on their twins. Drum roll, please ... They will be having twin girls in early April, adding two to our current total of 14 grandkids! And we are so very grateful to God for this incredible gift to them and to us.
Thanksgiving is once again my favorite time of year as it calls me to remember and give thanks. God's goodness to me is unending and His mercies new every morning. How grateful I am for His work in my heart so that I might belong to His family forever!
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