I wouldn’t ordinarily write about meals or celebrations but I thought this year’s Canadian Thanksgiving celebration was exceptionally special, and for various reasons. First of all, let me start by saying that the actual Thanksgiving Day was on Monday, October 14, 2010. I don’t really understand why the Canadian Thanksgiving is on a Monday (the second one). I think the American Thanksgiving falling on a Thursday is far better. At least they have the rest of the week-end to eat the leftovers, work off the extra calories, and recover from the stupor after eating all that turkey! Apparently, turkeys have natural chemicals in their bodies that put us to sleep.
We celebrated with some Canadians on Saturday, October 16th. They live in the same house that our Australian friends (the Himstedts), who left in the summer, used to live in. It felt really strange initially to walk in there because we miss the Himstedts but, it was soon apparent that we all liked this new family (the Moores), and Canadians at that! That was the first reason to be thankful for. We lost our good friends the Himstedts but right at their old home, we discovered the Moores and their friends.
Secondly, we’ve been missing the Feniaks, our Canadian friends whom we’ve been spending Christmas with for the last six years. They left this summer as well causing more heartache and making us wonder how Christmas this year would be spent. Imagine my surprise when one topic that we talked about during the meal was what we’d do come Christmas. We’re actually now going camping together during the Christmas break and maybe share another scrumptious meal together. It is amazing that long before we even thought of our future, the Lord had it all figured out.
Thirdly, I didn’t think it was possible but as I posted on my Facebook, it was the first Thanksgiving meal we’ve had where we truly feasted. It was strange to be doing it in Chiang Mai, Thailand, but we ate, and ate, and ate, until we felt like the turkey, stuffed! I actually passed on eating the Apple Crisp dessert although I admit that I couldn’t resist at least a half a slice of pumpkin pie! We looked at our spread after our feasting and we hardly put a dent on the meat (ribs, turkey, and roast beef). That was how much food we had, way too much! It was a bounty (with corn, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry jelly, pickles, and bread). YUMMY!
For the first time in a very long time, we carried on our conversations the whole evening and not once did any of us have to explain what we were saying. When, “IGA, Maple Leafs, and referendum” were spoken of, we knew what those were! We, all eleven of us, were all from the same province of Ontario. What a refreshing way to spend Thanksgiving together!
Lastly, we capped off the evening by playing a game on what we were thankful for. LOTS! Thank you, Lord, for old friends, new friends, feasts, grateful hearts, and feeling ridiculously Canadian in Thailand. =)
Beth Moore said “Grace evokes praise and thanks just like lightning follows thunder. Whether we like it or not, when we see the lightning, thunder is just a few seconds behind. It’s just the way God made them. We may wish for the thunder not to follow the lightning but inevitably, it always does. For us, grace is new every morning. Papa God just delights in giving it. I wish I could always see it. Sometimes it’s so subtle, I would hardly notice it. I wish to have eyes that see in the spiritual so my heart will always swell with thanks as grace happens before me. I know giving thanks, like praise, look great on us and please our Lord enormously.
