The preparations for Thanksgiving dinner have begun in the Longard house. The turkey is in the roaster (an 11 lb turkey seems like a piece of cake after cooking 2 20lb turkeys on Sunday for our friends at Penn Place). Various family members are working on starting their parts of the meal (Our middle daughter made a list last night to help keep us all organized).
Each year we invite friends to join us that have no other “family” to be with for Thanksgiving. It seems to be a different group every year. We’re always thankful to give them a taste of being “home” on this holiday.
I’m also thankful for those who are not able to join us this year. This morning I checked in with one young man that I have been life coaching for just over a year now. He was here for Thanksgiving last year. He informed me he was going to spend the day with his sister at the old family house. It’s a place he was forbidden to enter by his father until just a couple of months ago but God has brought enough reconciliation with his family to make this possible.
Others have been able to celebrate with their biological families for a few years because of the reconciling work of the Spirit. We miss not seeing them as much. If we were focused only on our gathering, we may feel jilted a bit to have to let go of them. Since the end goal is to help our friends find their own lives again, it’s much easier to let them be with the family they are reconnecting with.
Happy Thanksgiving to all and have a blessed day. Thank you for the ways you pray and invest in our ministry.
diakonoslife.org 
Leave a Reply