On November 1, I drove by a house where the man was taking down his Halloween decorations, and his wife was putting up Christmas decorations.  Americans now spend 6 billion dollars on Halloween, making it the second-largest commercial holiday besides Christmas.  Gone are the days of kids dressing like hobos and trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.  One little boy bragged to me that he had three costumes.  A middle school girl told me our Fall Festival was the third one she had hit; she said she had enough candy to last till Christmas. 

In my friend group, several couples are bragging that they finished decorating for Christmas before election day.  We haven’t even gotten the decorations down from the attic yet.  One woman explained that in order to get all five of her trees decorated, she had to start early.  I guess if you decorate five trees, you should start early to enjoy them longer. 

Thanksgiving has become a speed bump between Halloween and Christmas.  Black Friday has threatened to overtake Thanksgiving as the most important day of Thanksgiving week.  Few people stand outside the store waiting for the 5:00 AM deals.  Instead, people log on early and let UPS bring the store to them.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  The Smith family has gathered for the last eighty-seven years in the woods.   Usually, eighty to a hundred people gather.  Most, in some way, tie back to my Smith grandparents.  It is a special time to see cousins, catch up, remember old times, and argue about Florida State and Florida football. 

The table will be laden with some of the best food you have ever eaten.  There will be ribs, swamp cabbage, guava cobbler, my sister-in-law’s deviled eggs, brown rice casserole, my wife’s brussel sprouts with bacon (bacon makes everything better), and mashed potatoes that are one-part potato, one-part heavy cream, and two-parts butter.  I’ve learned not to overeat because, on Thanksgiving night, we will fry a turkey, cook a ham, and eat more good stuff. 

But Thanksgiving is never just about the food for me.  It’s about the people.  There is something about a family, when you bond over a lifetime of shared memories, loved ones who are no longer there, and the joy of seeing new generations.  We are four generations deep now.  I am in the oldest generation.  That’s hard for me to believe, but I am the youngest in my generation.  We take pictures of each generation each year.  Though there are four of us left, I will probably be the only one in good enough health to attend.

I never know when the best part of Thanksgiving will come.  Sometimes, it comes early in the morning.  Sometimes, it comes late in the afternoon.  There will be a moment when I am outside, maybe in the groves, and surprise some turkeys or out in the pasture, taking in the sunset.  At that moment, I will feel a sense of awe and wonder.  I will marvel at God’s goodness, his creativity, his blessing.  I will think about my own life and how many times God has rescued me from my own mistakes and my own sins.  My soul will stir, and a thanksgiving will rise from me to God.  I will thank my Heavenly Father for all he has done for me, gifting me with an amazing life, a world full of wonder, and, most of all, the calm assurance that he loves me and I belong to him.

You cannot get that feeling watching a football game or a parade.  Halloween does not give you that sense of awe and wonder.  My recommendation to you is to put yourself in a place where you feel the presence of God.  It might be to carve out five quiet minutes to read Psalms 103 and 104.  You might want to risk an awkward moment and have people at the Thanksgiving table share what they are thankful for.  Maybe you will want to sing to yourself the Doxology.

Whatever you do, do not rush past Thanksgiving.  One thinker called it “The humble holiday.”  Thanksgiving is a celebration that is not about us.  It is for the one who gives you great and wonderful gifts.  Thanksgiving prepares us for the real meaning of Christmas: being grateful for God’s best gift of all, Jesus, his son, who comes to save us, to set the captive free, to heal the broken, and to conquer sin and death once and for all.

 Happy Thanksgiving.