These are sweet waves to ride.
One wave of memories includes the uniqueness of our family. We lived in a small rural West Tennessee town where we never locked our doors and folks knew they were welcomed at any time. Even as a young child, our home was the gathering place. People were in and out constantly. People came so often that my Mom just continued her daily rituals regardless of who was around. That may be one of the reasons they felt so welcomed. Life didn't stop just because they came in. They could come in and jump into life with us. One of our friends was from out of town, with no family around and he happened in one year just when we needed him to help us get our contrary Christmas tree into the stand. He ended up staying and helping decorate. I think that these people felt like family because they were treated like family.
Our town had a unique quality of its own that added to our uniqueness as a family. It had an international flight school. So men and women of all ages and nationalities came to learn to fly in our town. You might not think that growing up in West Tennessee would include going to the local grocery story where you would hear several different languages being spoken as you shopped--but it did. And several of those young men gravitated to our home. (It probably had something to do with the fact that I have two beautiful sisters.) But come they did. Most of these men were far from home and were so excited to get to visit in a home that wasn't a bachelor's apartment.
One of my favorite memories is Thanksgiving with the pilots. We had our family all come to eat and sitting right in the middle of all the family were some of our pilot friends. It was a delightful time and it was so fun seeing our great aunts and grandparents visiting with these young men. And it was a super cool feeling, as a child, knowing that people who didn't have anywhere to go and celebrate Thanksgiving were welcomed at our table. But they didn't just stay for lunch. There were some football games played and some football games watched. Everyone took naps and about dinner time we all raided the refrigerator. The funniest story of all was how my step-father returned from hunting with his mind on the leftovers in the fridge--only to find that the pilots had eaten the last of the oyster dressing. He began considering revoking all "refrigerator rights" at that point, but he never did.
Rarely a Thanksgiving (or Christmas) is had, in our family, that someone is not invited in. There are people all around us that have no one with which to spend the holidays. My sister Missy realized that her elderly neighbor was going to be alone on Christmas, year before last. She brought her along to Christmas breakfast. That sweet woman cried because she was so thankful to have been welcomed. She is now a part of Christmas breakfast. I just saw her a few weeks ago and she talked about how she is looking forward to coming this year.
So as you head toward Thanksgivng turn your attention to those the Lord places before your path. Take time to check in with them and see if they have plans for the holidays. Those leftovers do taste really good...but to a lonely person they will definitely taste better at your dinner table the first time around. Maybe you are thinking that your family is too messy--your visitor will be so thankful they won't even notice. Or maybe your culinary skills aren't that great--give yourself room to laugh about burnt turkey (or frozen) and let them laugh with you. All that is required is love. Just have them in, whatever your situation, and love them well. Love never fails.
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