A Thanksgiving Week Kickoff

This is it — Thanksgiving Week! My heart is already doing cartwheels -- and so is my kitchen. I’ve already gotten the call from my son:
“Mom, PLEASE make your dressing -- and your cheese ball -- and don’t forget the artichoke dip!”

Then my daughter chimed in from East Texas:
“CHEESE BALL!” (I’m beginning to think I am the Cheeseball Queen of the Southwest.) And, "Please make Larry's favorite -- Carrot Cake!"

Between now and Thursday, my oven will barely get a nap. Shortbread wreath cookies… DoubleTree cookies… Snickerdoodles… chocolate toffee “crack.” If sugar were a love language, I’d be fluent.

But before I charge into full-force Martha mode — apron on, mixer humming, pecans flying — I need a Mary moment. A pause. A breath. A quiet thank You to the One who makes all this joy possible.

This is one of my favorite weeks of the year because it pulls our hearts back to center. Back to gratitude. Back to God. Yes, the turkey is delicious and the pumpkin pie -- well, it deserves its own holiday. But this week isn’t really about food. It’s about focus.

I’m thankful that America — with all her complicated history and current chaos — still sets aside a national day for giving thanks. In a world where people argue about everything from Christmas decorations to the Ten Commandments, I’m grateful Thanksgiving hasn’t been canceled by the “Let’s-remove-everything-sacred” committee. (Don’t give them any ideas.)

But here we are — still blessed to gather, still free to pray, still able to say, “Thank You, Lord,” without apology.

Thanksgiving isn’t just a holiday… it’s a posture. A deep, daily yes to God’s goodness.
It’s waking up and being grateful that:
• We have a warm bed.
• We WOKE UP — because the alternative isn’t nearly as appealing.
• We get to spend another day loving, giving, serving, hoping.

President Lincoln got it right when he proclaimed a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise” in 1863. Praise is what lifts our eyes above the headlines. Thanksgiving is what steadies our hearts. And when we put the two together? Joy walks right in and makes herself at home.

So, Happy Thanksgiving Week, my precious friends. May gratitude be our rhythm, joy our song, and God our steady foundation.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.” — Psalm 33:12