The memories are not very vivid now, but I think I spent one Thanksgiving on Cape Cod. I'm not sure why I can't remember it very well.
I believe that it was my first Thanksgiving away from home. I can't remember why I didn't go back to Kentucky for Thanksgiving that year. I was a student in college and a friend from back home invited me to spend the holiday with a bunch of friends at a house on the cape.
Not all that far from Plymouth Rock, we ate good food, walked on the beach, and talked for several days.
I believe that it was my first Thanksgiving away from home. I can't remember why I didn't go back to Kentucky for Thanksgiving that year. I was a student in college and a friend from back home invited me to spend the holiday with a bunch of friends at a house on the cape.
Not all that far from Plymouth Rock, we ate good food, walked on the beach, and talked for several days.
I couldn't find that house today if I tried. Today, many years later, I have no idea what city we were in or who the house belonged to. On the one hand, the house looked like it might not last another day. On the other hand, it had already survived more than one hundred brutal winters. The weekend was cold and windy. Walking on the beach, the sky and the water were exactly the same color; in fact, everything in sight was either grey or brown. The setting was beautiful in a painful way. "Bleak" is the word that now comes to mind.
My hosts were completely gracious. I was welcomed and told to make myself at home. I can't remember what we ate, but the food was delicious. And the conversation was life-giving. It seems now that we sat at the dinner table for hours, talking about everything and nothing.
After a few days, it was time to go back to school. My weekend in that unfamiliar place with those unfamiliar people came to an end. I was grateful for their gracious hospitality and open hearts. They weren't required to include me, but they did - purely on the basis of my friend's invitation. College can be a lonely time, and these kind people helped me feel at home even though home was far away.
It seems that I should be able to remember their names, but I can't. What I do know, however, is that it was good to have a place at the table.
As little as I can remember about that weekend, my Thanksgiving on Cape Cod reminds me of how God does that same thing for us. God is a God of gracious hospitality. God has an open heart. God isn't required to include us - but he does anyway. God is so gifted at making us feel at home.
I know - it's kind of a strange Thanksgiving memory. Even so, it makes me very thankful for God's intimate and personal love. God makes us feel at home even in a strange place.
My hosts were completely gracious. I was welcomed and told to make myself at home. I can't remember what we ate, but the food was delicious. And the conversation was life-giving. It seems now that we sat at the dinner table for hours, talking about everything and nothing.
After a few days, it was time to go back to school. My weekend in that unfamiliar place with those unfamiliar people came to an end. I was grateful for their gracious hospitality and open hearts. They weren't required to include me, but they did - purely on the basis of my friend's invitation. College can be a lonely time, and these kind people helped me feel at home even though home was far away.
It seems that I should be able to remember their names, but I can't. What I do know, however, is that it was good to have a place at the table.
As little as I can remember about that weekend, my Thanksgiving on Cape Cod reminds me of how God does that same thing for us. God is a God of gracious hospitality. God has an open heart. God isn't required to include us - but he does anyway. God is so gifted at making us feel at home.
I know - it's kind of a strange Thanksgiving memory. Even so, it makes me very thankful for God's intimate and personal love. God makes us feel at home even in a strange place.