Turkey, Family, and Humping Dogs (You Know, All the Typical Stuff)

It’s been a typical Thanksgiving Day with Maile’s family: kids chase each other around the house; the kitchen bustles with food preparation (you can’t walk through it without getting coated in flour); the two dogs hump each other in the foyer.

Okay, that last part is atypical.

Due to all the late nights, our two youngest need a nap, so I take them upstairs, kick some of their cousins out of the room, and throw a pile of blankets and pillows on the floor. They dig their way into them like bears preparing for hibernation, and I collapse on a neighboring sofa to make sure they go to sleep (and to write this blog post).

Thanksgivings are wonderful if only because they are so predictable. The same early morning wake up with kids looking for cousins already awake. The same Thanksgiving Day parade with slightly lame hosts and just enough inactivity to provide the perfect atmosphere for a late-morning nap. The same delicious food. The same activities.

But as I sit here on the sofa and think about being thankful, someone in particular comes to mind. Someone who has every right not to be thankful on this day. Someone with ALS.

I click over to his Facebook page, but before I get there, I know exactly what I’ll find. His latest status update this morning was:

“Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I’m thankful for my family and all the incredible people in my life! But most of all, for God’s amazing love and grace!”

All this from a man who can no longer speak or take care of himself.

There’s something to be said for listing things that we’re thankful for. But can my thankfulness somehow transcend the temporal level of people and health and stuff? Can this thankfulness become so deeply rooted within me that it becomes, not a reaction to blessing, but simply a state of mind? An outlook? A posture of my heart?

Gordie proves that it can. Someday I hope to be there, too.

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Similar posts include:
Confessions From a Guy Standing at the Back of the Church
Downward Mobility

 

4 Replies to “Turkey, Family, and Humping Dogs (You Know, All the Typical Stuff)”

  1. It is something. Towards the end of my dad’s life from ALS, he decided to start a community dinner at our church for Thanksgiving. He visited with people and did the most he could. Today, 9 years later, they still do it and they just served it last week to 180 people, most were unknown to the church. ALS for some reason never manages to get the people down that have it. They always seem to keep a better view than the rest of us do. Happy Thanksgiving Shawn.

  2. My dad is a strong man. As we sat around and ate delicious food, he kept a smile on his face and still enjoyed the day with us. He always loved this time of year with all of the good food, cookies, and chocolate covered stuff. Now he can’t eat, play games, or converse with us, but he’s still joyful and keeps a smile on his face. He inspires me all the time.

  3. I am so working on this myself, Shawn. To be thankful in all things, at the heart of things, despite things.

    Ann Voskamp’s book – One Thousand Gifts – really did inspire me in this.

    Thanks to you and thanks to Gordie for this reminder.

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