A Reason to be Thankful

The noise in the hallways today has been a little louder than usual. The girls of St. Mary’s seem to be thrilled about the extended Thanksgiving Break. Each time one has walked in my office I have asked them if they are excited about Thanksgiving and I inquired about their plans. Although, I am pretty positive that almost everyone is excited to be out of school, some look a little terrified of their planned excursions.

“I have to go to my grandmothers, and there is no one my age, just my cousins who are a lot older and won’t hang out with me,” said one girl. I try to cheer them up but I understand exactly how they feel. We are forced to be around family and usually several more people than we are used to having invade our personal space. Holidays all around mean more family skirmishes, a lot more stress, and a hike in everyone’s blood pressure.

There is a special lectionary reading for Thanksgiving from the gospel of Matthew. In this Jesus says, “I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what your will drink, or about your body, what you will wear.” This comes at Thanksgiving, when we seem to stress about so much. I am fretting dealing with the stress levels of the Burruss kitchen as my mother and father try to prepare the turkey feast. Someone is always getting in the way and upsetting everyone else, the meal never goes exactly as planned, and although the last few years have been pretty easy with just the four of us, this year we have out-of-town guests. And that always means chaos. We always have a fabulous time, but we certainly worry about our food and drink.

As Thanksgiving arrives this week I challenge us all to quit worrying and be thankful and focused during this celebration of the gifts of God. I am thankful for the chaos in the kitchen because it means that I have a family to be with. I am thankful for worrying about if the turkey is too dry or too overcooked, because it means that I have a dinner that I can share with others. I am thankful for having the family invade my personal space at my home, because it means that I have a roof over my head and a place to have family visit. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.