Thanksgiving 2020: Timeless & New Traditions

Thanksgiving is one week from today and my head is swimming. Can you relate?

There are so many restrictions, changes, and unknowns. Instead of conversations of gratefulness, family visits, and travels while standing in the grocery checkout...it's either silence or sadness.

I can relate, this will be our first year without our daughter home for the holiday. If I focus on this, I'm overcome with despair and want to lay in bed and cry but this is not what I'm called to do or how God wants me spending my time. It' during these moment that I challenge myself to think about the opportunities available because of the change. Yes, I said there are opportunities.

We may not experience a house full of people this year. Instead of stacking furniture in one room so you can set up four folding tables in your living room or spending every hour before and after work for the next week cleaning...you have an opportunity to relax and focus your energies on the people closest to you. Instead of spending extra money you "borrow" from the utility payment envelope to buy a surplus of groceries that only are have eaten, you can pay your full payment. Instead of losing sleep, you will be well rested. Instead of exhaustion at the end of the ,month, you will be refreshed, with renewed energy to focus on Christmas and the remembrance of Jesus' birth and the anticipation of His return. 

I will miss seeing my daughter and other family due to the precautions in place to keep us safe. I will miss watching the parade in the morning and baking so many desserts that no one could eat them all. On the flip side, I won't miss the exhaustion and waste.

There are a few things I'm thankful for as we transition into the countdown to Thanksgiving: we have technology allowing us to "see" our loved ones and hear their voices, officials have our health and wellness at the forefront, and most of all, the time I would normally spend cleaning and baking, I plan to spend drawing closer to God and focus on the importance of the holidays and the meaning of Advent.

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Are you able to focus on Thanksgiving this year?
What helps you maintain a grateful attitude?