Can you believe
that Thanksgiving Day is now only 10 days away?
Close your eyes and think back to those earlier Thanksgiving days, those
carefree days when you were a child. Mother
would have all kinds of food cooking when we woke up on Thanksgiving
morning. The house smelled wonderful. Mmmm!
We usually drove over to my Papa and Granny’s for Thanksgiving Day
lunch. Papa and Granny’s house was very
small, just right for them, but when sons and daughters, in-laws, grandchildren,
and great grandchildren came, there wasn’t even a place to stand, much less
sit. That was just fine. It didn’t matter. Family.
We were all together. That was
most important. Papa sat in his chair
awaiting the call to eat. Granny, my
mother, my aunt, and others were organizing the food, drinks, and
desserts. There were greetings, hugs,
and kisses all around. Children were
positioned outside. We spent the time before
lunch swinging on the porch swing or on the tree swing. We played games kids games like chase,
marbles, and hop scotch. When the call
to eat was finally made, Granny’s table was always a sight to behold. Every dish of food was arranged perfectly
with a few dishes delicately hanging off the table. Granny usually had every kind of dessert
imaginable; apple pies, pecan pies, sweet potato pies, fried pies, and cakes of
every kind. Her Red Velvet Cake was one of a kind. She sometimes used toothpicks to hold it
together. This is probably the reason
why I have such a big “sweet tooth.” There
was fresh made bread and rolls, corn bread, and biscuits. There was ham, turkey, chicken, pork chops,
and some kind of casserole. I could go
on and on. My Granny is now 95 years
old. She grew up in rural northwest
Alabama, married my grandfather when she was only a teenager, and lived almost
her entire life less than a mile from where she was born. Thank you for allowing me to reminisce a
little bit. I want my children and
grandchildren to have similar memories later on in their lives when it comes to
the holiday season and the time they spend with Cindi and me.
Every Sunday
morning the church meets for Bible study at 10:00 a.m. Brother Eddie Hawkins, one of our elders is
teaching the adult session in the main auditorium at Enola. We are currently studying the First Epistle
of Paul to the Thessalonians. In chapter
one, verse 2-3 Paul writes:
“We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of
you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your WORK OF FAITH, LABOR OF
LOVE, and PATIENCE OF HOPE in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and
Father, knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.”
Did you see that? Faith
is work. Faith comes by hearing the word
of God (Romans 10:17). Our faith is
often challenged and tested. It is
sometimes hard to maintain our faith.
Faith is work. Love is
labor. Love is not always a feeling of
passion or positive emotion. Love is
always a decision. Love is labor. Our hope requires patience. Heaven is the end result of patient hope. We hope for many things in life. Patience is required if we are to have our
hope fulfilled. We hope in patience.
May God bless us
as we open our hearts and minds to His direction! May we always and forever to thankful for
everything great or small, past, present, and future, now and forever!
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