I love that we have a feast day called Thanksgiving. And I also love that it’s entirely American and that every where across America everyone is serving up the same basic menu on the same day. It’s just such a funny thing to think about: millions of people feeling culturally obligated to cook a turkey and serve it with all the culturally expected side dishes and pies. Pretty fantastic!
I also love making the side dishes and pies and cooking the turkey bird. Love it all, start to finish. But I have to confess that my very favorite part of it all is setting the table. I will probably set it early on, maybe even Wednesday night, so I can feast my eyes on it. I will enjoy putting every fork and spoon and goblet in exactly the right spot designated for such things. Ah, cultural expectations galore! Tradition galore!
I love making the table look beautiful. I’ve been thinking about what tablecloth or runner I’m going to use. This year it’s a Thanksgiving runner from a few years back over a pale green tablecloth from a few years back. Sounds weird, but it looks so Continue reading ‘Thanksgiving Prep’
I have sat in the front row of church now for many years, in all the different locations our church has met in, including a body shop back in the early years. (In those days the men had to move the cars, hose down the floors, and set up the folding chairs!) Lately I have been reflecting on the front row, with some practical and some symbolic thoughts about it.
First of all, in secular events, front row seats are prized. Think about concerts and sporting events: the front row seats are the most coveted seats. But at church, many people shy away from the front row. Now I’m not talking about a conference with a big-name speaker up in front. At that kind of event, the front rows are taken. I’m talking about church. (And I suppose, if a worship service is conducted like a concert or spectator sport, the front rows might be crowded.) But how often do most folks shy away from sitting in the front row Sunday morning? And why do they do that? What’s the difference between a rock concert and a worship service? A whole lot, that’s what. Continue reading ‘Thoughts on the Front Row’
Before I get started in the kitchen, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on what it is we are doing out there in the kitchen up to our elbows in pumpkin pie and all the rest. We Americans are blessed to have a national holiday devoted to Thanksgiving, and it’s a wonder that it is still recognized. The obvious question that such a holiday should provoke is “Thank whom?”
Though Thanksgiving is not a day on the Christian calendar, it is still a very happy providence that He, our good and gracious God, arranged to have us Americans thank Him for our manifold blessings by sitting down at a table once a year and rejoicing together around an abundance of food! My memories of Thanksgiving stretch back to the shining white table of my mother with Dad standing at the head carving the turkey. Mom’s crystal and china and silver were polished and sparkling. We children were dressed up in our Sunday best. I can see it now!
Mom always started the day before Thanksgiving by making the cornbread for the dressing and simmering the turkey neck and giblets for Continue reading ‘The Powerful Impact of Pie’
The time has come to start preparing The Feast. I get very excited about it all, and I love thinking over what the next few days will include, sorting out who will make which pies, and how I will keep the grandkids occupied while their parents are still over in Merry Ol’ England. Today was easy because God sent a beautiful load of snow and the afternoon was spent sliding and rolling around in it (not me, but the kids) until it was almost dark outside. But I digress.
Today my husband preached a Thanksgiving sermon, and I sat in a different row than usual with my five Merkle grandchildren. Funny how being in a different seat can change the whole experience. The kids were great, I got to sit behind the Wilson family grandkids, and I have always wanted to be over there with them all during the Lord’s Supper, so it was sweet indeed. (The Janks were somewhere in the back and I didn’t get a peep at them until after the service when all the grandkids make a bee-line for Doug to give him a hug, and then a bee-line for me because I have the treats in my purse to hand out.) But there I go digressing again.
The point of the sermon was very applicable to all of us who will be putting on our battle gear in the kitchen tomorrow and the next day and the next until the Great Feast Day. He was speaking about rejoicing in the evil day, and how our days are just as evil (or almost) Continue reading ‘Fighting Gear’
We had fun yesterday at this year’s Fall Jolly, a fund-raising craft fair/tag sale/food and book sale that is hosted by our church one Saturday morning in the fall. This year it coincided with New St. Andrew’s Celebratio, so it has been a weekend crowded with activities. I snapped a couple of pictures at the Jolly before we opened the doors, but there was so much more than this, thanks to many willing hands. Next year maybe you all can come!
We had some very special guests tonight for Sabbath dinner. They were quite a hoot, didn’t spill anything to speak of, didn’t need any spankings, and didn’t break one thing. And, there were eighteen of them! I got them to pose for a little after-dinner photo shoot. They were a little hard to keep still, but you get the general idea. Rory is the oldest, being a big seven years old. And yes, we had all their parents (and one set of grandparents!) as well, and they behaved nicely too. I’m sorry about the bright eyes. I tried to fix it, but it only made it worse, so I left them as is. But you get the idea. I tried to get a picture that would show the scope of the devastation in my kitchen, but Rachel was too fast and had a bunch of the dishes already done before I could take a picture. So you’ll have to imagine that part.
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