It is time to put my mind to the Thanksgiving/Christmas family times. Thanksgiving is November 25 and Christmas is December 25. At least that is on the calendar for 2021. Dr. Fauci may be cancelling but most of us have already considered that he is a flake and are taking a chance on the “Mandate” police overlooking us.
But the questions remains. When do I celebrate those holidays? One reason I don’t know is because most members of my family don’t know. All they know is that they don’t know. And they know one of the reasons I don’t know is that they don’t know, and they don’t know when they will have their families in because those families also don’t know. Shall I repeat or continue?
I’ll put my own family for an example. I have seven grandchildren, four of whom married then suffered the pain of divorce. They have given me twelve great grandchildren, none of whom really knows with whom they will spend Christmas. Obviously my peers are all grandmothers. Many, probably most, of whom have the same sorrow in their own homes. Most all of us were raised in stable homes and have tried to pass that value to our children. Churches, schools, television and other media, work, luxuries, sports, cars? All had a part in making them who they are.
However, children of the past few decades did not have much of what the children of today have to be burdened with! I heard of a girl this week who asked her teacher for permission to leave the room because her period had begun. The teacher remarked about the student being a girl because some weird answer had been put on the gender line on her enrollment! I think the girl responded that she didn’t know how to fill in that line. Are you kidding me? Poor babies!
My son, I think jokingly, said some guy had been told he was a homosexual but he is finding out girls are appealing to him, so he guessed he was a lesbian! My God, prayer not a curse, please have mercy. Your word says warns, Romans 1:13 “they invent ways of doing evil.” We are even in the process of changing language to make families seem unimportant. Please take the power from the doers of evil. Expose evil schemes. Spur your leaders to good and successful endeavors.”
All that and I still don’t know how to plan Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations. But I will do something because I remember how my children of all ages enjoy our family devotions, testimonies, singing, and exhortations. The gleam in their eyes, an occasional hand raised to ask a question, a little arm reaching around my neck, a new look at the latest great, great, grandchild. I hope they will be here another year. And I am grateful to have another holiday season with those who come, as I pine for those who miss.
Sweet aroma 
I know how you feel. We have two children who live near us, but our firstborn in in S. C. and one of her sons is teaching in South Korea. We had hoped to attend our second grandson’s graduation in December, but road travel during that time of year is so unpredictable and flying has become so as well. Add to that the fact that we’re having more and more trouble managing stairs, much less an airport filled with many people. I do know my husband will not be hunting this year for various reasons, but it’s also like cutting off one of his legs for him. We make a lot of adjustments when we get older, but we can certainly look forward to perfect bodies some day. Hope your holiday plans go off without a hitch.
I’ve had an attitude adjustment. Looking forward to the occasion, but still don’t know when. My son and daughter-in-law will take on the bulk of the work. Thank God for a season which gives us an excuse to hold Him high!
Amen! For now anyway.
All I can do is shake my head and pray that much harder!!
Hey, you will have them all together, won’t you? Or are you on a schedule with the in-laws?
We’ve got them for trick or treat as mom and dad are to go to a wedding that weekend. We will spend thanksgiving in Savannah with them as a family along with Abby’s other grandmother and her daughters daughter Abby’s cousin — we usually go spend Christmas with them but since both families are now “up” here— perhaps they will come this way
Sounds like you have some chance for togetherness. That’s good. Enjoy taking your treasures, treasure hunting. 😀
Yep!-
At least CHRISTMAS is all about A BIRTHDAY. It is the greatest thanksgiving meal of the year. Only those now who acknowledge that is what happens at grandmother’s house. come. Perhaps we will meet other members of our family at a beach or alternate places of connection. But at OUR HOUSE………Jesus Christ is Lord!
It is an important family time when one can get past the merchandising. I don’t think that is going to be very important this year, at least not at our house. I seriously wonder if our country is going to survive this coming year – that is, in the manner that we have lived. And complained. The Lord doesn’t like murmuring; there is a lot of that going on.
OH MYYYY!!!! You feel my pain. My precious grandsons are into their second year coming from a broken home. It is soooo painful for us grandmas. My daughter was raised as a Christian. She knew divorce was not to be uttered. She lived through our divorce and remarriage when she was 7. She barely felt the pain as we straitened ourselves out with in the year. She only had one Thanksgiving with me and her maternal grandparents and one Christmas with her dad, her paternal grandma, aunt, uncle and three cousins around her age. I’m so glad I am so into God’s Word. HE is helping me cope so I can better help my grandsons cope….only a big problem – they live six hours away. And a few other complications. Lord, help us!!!
Even at its best, things can get complicated in our large, but mobile, country. I hope they are all well and that you can have a beautiful time together.
Our family is much smaller than yours, and we don’t know, either! At least we aren’t that far from our kids and grandkids, so we’ll see them when we can. At this point it’s easier for us to travel than for them. Really, any time we get together it’s a holiday. We may celebrate Thanksgiving early, or Christmas in January, but we’ll cover the bases and have fun doing it, whenever, wherever.
I’m flexible. Have to be. Our family also are fairly nearby. We’ll see how it goes. Thanks for writing.