food and family

The season of thanksgiving has come and is now going. One month of thanksgiving just to transition to a month of wish lists. The energy of gratitude that flows from one person to another I wish was more consistent throughout the year. The month of November causes millions of people to put life into its proper perspective. We focus on what is important, we focus on what we have, we focus on how bad things could be....WE FOCUS. The busyness of life causes us as a people to to be a focus-less people. We become compulsive and less sensitive to our needs and the needs of others. The Holidays force you to acknowledge that the season is not filled with pleasant greetings for all. As I sit around the thanksgiving table at Hope Royale (post tx housing where my mom is staying) in rural Missouri I look at the faces of those in the room and cant help but wonder about the details of their "story". As a man shares that his wife passed in April, and another is calling family members who are too far for touch to wish them a happy holiday my heart mourned for those whose thanksgiving is not filled with family and food. Moments later, I was reminded of the prayer that was executed that labeled everyone at the table as one big family. Yeah, it was non traditional when compared to the mom, dad, kids, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins...that we consider as family, but it was sure doing the trick for those (for whatever reason) did not have access to that formula. Many people across the world spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with no one to share it with or with the absence of loved ones. Although it is expected as we live on this side of heaven that loss will visit us all, it doesn't make it any easier of a pill to swallow. So, as this season comes and goes my prayer is that the lonely and desolate will be comforted and know that there is nothing traditional about being traditional at all. Food and Family feeds the heart in a way nothing else can. My family today consists of siblings, my mom, and adopted extended family. As the siblings grow older we will establish our own families and life as we know it will look different. As seasons of life change ones family will look different: From churches to nursing homes to prisons to neighbors to work to roommates to pets.....I thank God for family (whatever that may look like). Until next time.....evenme :)