Thanksgiving 2010

Our Thanksgiving was wonderful! I am so thankful for many things in my life, above all the Cross and what it means to be reconciled as a friend with God because of Christ. I just think it's perfect that Thanksgiving, a time for counting one's blessings, precedes Christ's birthday. Nothing gets me more in the mood to celebrate His coming than to meditate on His grace. Earlier today, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" was playing on the radio. We were in the WalMart parking lot and I just sat there listening to Jonah scream-sing "RE-JOYYYYYYCE! RE-JOYYYYYYYYCE!" It was heaven.

I took some pictures from our Thanksgiving and I think I need to reevaluate my priorities.

Seriously?! Our whole family gets together and this is what I take pictures of? Not Esther Grace loving on her new baby cousin, Skylar. Not Katie & Ryan at their first wedded Thanksgiving. Nope. But don't worry- I got the spread.

Okay, let's revisit these pictures for just a moment, shall we? Take the first one. This is the view from the left side of Mom & Dad's kitchen island:

We've got nacho dip, a pineapple cheese ball with crackers, shrimp cocktail, three pans of twice baked potatoes, broccoli salad, two pans of sausage stuffing, and sweet potato casserole topped with marshmallows. Now from the right side of the island:

Let's see....jellied cranberry sauce, cranberry Jell-o (two completely different things!), cornbread stuffing (the other pan is in the warming drawer), orange sweet potato cups topped with pecans & brown sugar, fried turkey, a Honey Baked Ham, deviled eggs, pineapple casserole, petit-fours (should've been on the dessert table), dinner rolls, blueberry muffins, strawberry pretzel salad, and spicy macaroni & cheese. Yep. I think that's it. I had to squint to get it all in there. Okay, now on the stove top we've got...

...black-eyed peas (or pink-eyed peas, I don't know exactly which ones were made), green beans, turnip greens, and Nana's gravy (Mmmmmmm).

This was dinner. Afterwards, once dishes were cleaned, tables wiped down, and food packed away in Tupperware, Katie attempted to make made (with Mom's help) a pot of coffee and we sat down to this:

Not that anyone really ate any of it but we tried. There's lemon pound cake (in that cute cornucopia shape!), key lime cheesecake, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie (my favorite for Thanksgiving), HOMEMADE FROM SCRATCH German Chocolate cake (my favorite for Christmas...I don't know if we'll get another one though), and Ouida's red velvet cake. (My chocolate pound cake went to the other side of the family this year.) 

Now. This post comes with two shockers....one of which is not that we were part of a Food Network special.

Shocker #1- All of this food was for twelve people. Seriously. Twelve. And two of those are under the age of four. So really, just ten. Mom, Dad, Tyler (he could technically count as two himself), Katie, Ryan, Myself, Bear, Jonah, Esther Grace, Nana, Dale, and Jean (Ryan's mom). Justin (my cousin), Shannon, and Skylar (almost all of three months old) came later and ate dessert.

Shocker #2- None of it will go to waste. While we may have not tackled the entirety of the feast yesterday, we came prepared. Tupperwares were packed and we'll be eating off of it over the next few days. But every morsel will be consumed.

Now do you see why we have steak and baked potatoes on Christmas Eve? I haven't taken the time to calculate the food to people ratio but I'm sure it's up there. We do not battle anorexia in our family. No sir. I'm so thankful for a family that can cook. Not a soul came (or left, for that matter) empty handed and throughout this coming week as I sigh in relief of not having to cook dinner, I can also breath a prayer of thanks for the generosity that grows from my family tree. The branches droop in the hefty portion that is mine and I revel in my inheritance. For not only is this my earthly heritage, but my eternal one as well.

"I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 8:11

"Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder:

“Praise the Lord! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.”

For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people. And the angel said to me,

“Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God.” Revelation 19:6-9

Thank You, Jesus.