Only two more days until Thanksgiving Day and my thoughts are a jumbled up mess. Why?
Well, I could just start a list and it would get terribly long and complicated, but maybe I can give you a picture of what is flooding my brain.
First, I missed last week’s posting because I was focused on the annual weekend with my college friends. Therefore, last weekend my time was filled with all the planning and packing that it takes for such a weekend.
But, the tasks are part of the weekend and I am so thankful that I have such close friends who fill my life with joy and tears, with support and honesty, and with love. The unconditional love that God gives each of us to experience, but also to provide for one another.
Yet, returning from the weekend leads to more tasks—especially the laundry. I could not believe how high the loads had piled up when everything was unpacked and added to what kept growing while I was gone.
Laundry, you know, is one task that just does not seem manageable in any other way. You still have to sort it, wash it, dry it, fold or hang it, and put it away. And in the meantime, you are still wearing clothes that will soon continue the cycle.
Thank goodness I am equipped to do the task.
The laundry task is just one that faced me upon returning home. While gone, I stopped at one of my favorite markets to restock my cooking supplies. When I unloaded them, I realized I was facing another task—cleaning out the cabinet.
Thank goodness I am blessed to have a home with kitchen and cabinets, so I started. I ended up having to clean out two cabinets in order to reorganize, clean and store all that I had purchased.
As I do this, I cannot help but think how fortunate I am to be able to do this. In doing the task, I found time to think about how thankful I am for my own home but also how difficult it must be not having all that I have. Thanksgiving is easy for me, but what about those who struggle to have even the most basic needs of food, clothing and shelter.
Obviously one task leads to another and my thoughts just keep leap frogging from one thought to the next. The chores I had to do after being gone for the long weekend continue, but now a shift from cleaning to planning ahead.
Thanksgiving is a time filled with traditions—at least in our world. There is the menu: turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, and gravy accompanied by all the special dishes family members bring in. The tasks turn to cooking.
Yet the task of preparing a Thanksgiving meal is a time for reflection and prayer. Each dish seems to come with a face that loves it. So the time on task turns into prayer time for the face (individual).
The jumbled thoughts that accompany daily life tasks sometimes quiet down, but at other times it leads to screaming. No one else hears it, but I do. What screams?
Naturally some screams are from the actual work that has to be done, but what about the screams from the past.
I can’t help but think how the Psalms are filled with the trials and tribulations that frustrate even the ancients. Yet, in the midst of daily tasks, God is with us. The Psalms are also filled with words of thanksgiving and praise. I turn to Psalm 100:
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
How easy it is for our thoughts to become so jumbled as we do the daily tasks. The work is necessary, and the thoughts that ramble through our minds in the midst of it can distract us. But today, as Thanksgiving Day nears, I find the jumbled, leap-frogging thoughts tend to turn to words of thanksgiving—serving the Lord with gladness.
May your holiday thoughts and tasks find a way to lead your thoughts to words of thanksgiving. God knows we struggle, but we need to take time to talk with him. As we think of all we have for which we are thankful, we need to make sure we tell him thanks.
And, as we realize how much we have, let us all share words of supplication to God for those without even the basics of food, clothing and shelter. He is with them, too, and we can do all we can for them including wrapping them in prayers.
Dear Gracious God,
In the midst of the mental fog, the myriad of tasks, and the traditions of a holiday, we thank you.
In the madness of travels and the joys of family reunions, we thank you for our kin.
At the table filled with turkey, dressing, and more, we feel blessed to have food, clothing and shelter for which we say thanks.
Yet we know many who have mental fog of addictions, of hunger, of pain, of loss, and more.
so we lift them in our prayers.
We are aware that you call us to serve
one another in love today and everyday,
so we ask you to guide us is doing all that we can.
This week we echo the psalmist’s word
knowing that we are God’s children
and your love endures forever
and you are faithful to all generations.
We are blessed and we give thanks to you.
In the name of you the Father,
the son Jesus Christ,
and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Susandoodles Weblog 