Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, what would you say is your favorite memory around this holiday? Maybe, it’s something that happened this year or maybe it’s something that’s near and dear to your heart from a Thanksgiving years ago. There are several different memories that come to mind when I think about Thanksgiving: watching the Macy’s Parade, watching football games, time spent with my family, eating all that yummy food, or when we go around
the table and everyone says what they are thankful for.
My favorite Thanksgiving memory is about my Mom and how she approached her Thanksgiving dinner. For many people, their Thanksgiving dinner is one of those few times that they have a “formal” dinner. Not my mom, I think her dinners would be described as anything but formal. The thing that I loved the most was that Mom allowed us to eat the food before the dinner was “officially” served.
As I think back through the years, there was always a dish or two that made its way onto the table that wasn’t what most would say was “perfect.” You see, the turkey was already cut into long before dinner. Every year, we would have turkey and rolls for breakfast since Mom cooked her turkey all night. The potato salad never stood a chance of making it to the table without me having a dish (or two), since it was my favorite. Then there were the pies and cakes, that
always had to be “tested” to ensure that they were good enough to be served. Mom’s thinking was, “Eat it when you want it because when everything is ready you may not want it, or it might all be gone.”
Mom’s ideal Thanksgiving dinner was never about perfectly set tables, seating arrangements, or dishes that hadn’t been touched. She would always place the main dish, side dishes, and desserts on the table even if they didn’t “look” perfect. For her, those dishes that had been eaten meant that she had loved people through that, and that was what mattered the most to her, not some fancy dinner.
When I thought about that memory, I realized our God is the same way when it comes to us. He welcomes us to come to Him even if we are missing pieces and not fully perfect. God is inviting us to come just as we are. It is only after we are willing to come and surrender to Him, that He begins to fix our missing pieces and our healing starts to happen. We often feel that we must have it all figured out and fix it ourselves before we can come to God. However, our God
wants us just as we are, imperfections and all!
I want to remind you today that your problem is never too big or too small for God. Even in your missing pieces and not perfect state, God is still here wanting you to call out to Him. God will hear you and He will take you just as you are, missing pieces and all!
The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, {Luk 4:18}
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