MUCH CLOSER But JUST AS EXCITING!

I think Thanksgiving is a wonderful Holiday! Typically, the day opens with everyone glued to the TV watching Snoopy, Bullwinkle, and the other stars of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Then, you have an excuse to eat, to excess!, goodies that you probably don’t get most any other time of the year: “The Bird:” Sweet Potatoes with Maple Syrup, Marshmallows, and Walnuts; Corn Pudding; Taters and Gravy; Cranberries; Dressing; Pumpkin AND Pecan Pie – – and that’s just the staples, which folks supplement by bringing their own “specialty” dishes.

Now, after you have eaten more of these delicacies than any human has a right to consume in any given day, you can nap while some first rate Football Games are being aired. Follow that with another trip to the Kitchen for round two, and then back to the TV for the National Dog Show. Yes, Thanksgiving is a great Holiday!

As you may recall, my Thanksgiving last year was nothing like what I just described! The day started with us getting up at 5 am, braving the sub-40 degree temperatures to get over to Central Park to be part of the 3.5 million people who watched The Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade in person! Yep, we were in New York City!

After the Parade we made our way back to our daughter’s temporary abode, and did, in fact, enjoy a bountiful feast. There was, however, no Football; no “round two” in the kitchen, and no Dog Show. What there was, though, is what Thanksgiving is really all about: Family and Friends with whom we were able to share what we were thankful for in 2019!

This year we will not be going to New York City to see the Parade in Person. Instead, we will be going to Austin to enjoy the “Virtual Version” of the Parade with our youngest daughter and her family. Last year they joined us in New York to be with our oldest daughter and her family. As you also may recall, there were thirteen of us in New York City. This year, there will be thirteen of us again, as we all will be in Austin to celebrate the Holiday!

And that, friends, is the Good News for today! I am just as excited this year about Thanksgiving as I was last year, because we are all going to be together again! And, though some of you may think I am crazy, we have a lot to be thankful for in 2020!!!

First of all, if you are reading this you can be Thankful that you are still able to do so! We learned, as a nation, that we are a whole lot more resilient than we thought we might be. We can be Thankful that we still live in a nation where we can choose our leaders. We can be Thankful that, though certainly under different circumstances, we live in a country where our young people can still be educated.

We can be Thankful that so many of us can work at home. We can be Thankful that through the quarantine we learned that being with family isn’t so bad after all; that we can eat at home – probably for less money and maybe even enjoy more healthy food.

The main thing we have to be Thankful for, however, is that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and no matter what we have faced this year and what we may face next year, we know we can stand firmly on His promises. I don’t know what Good News you are bracing yourself up with these days, but I do know that, even though you may not recognize it right away, there is a lot of Good News in your life, too!