Home for the Holidays?

Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving. Colossians 4:2

An elderly man in Phoenix calls his son in New York and says, “I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing—45 years of misery is enough.”

“Pop, what are you talking about?” the son asks.

“We can’t stand the sight of each other any longer,” the old man says. “We’re sick of each other, and I’m sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her.”

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. “Like heck they’re getting divorced,” she shouts. “I’ll take care of this.”

She calls Phoenix immediately and screams at her father, “You are NOT getting divorced. Don’t do a single thing till I get there. I’m calling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing.”

The old man hangs up the phone and turns to his wife. “Okay,” he says, “They’re coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own fares. Now what do we do for Christmas?”

“Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.” –W. T. Purkiser

We may smile at this story but the truth is that many of us have a tough time getting together as a family around this time of year.

For innumerable reasons, the family is more fragmented these days than ever before.

So if you’re not going to be with your extended family during this season, don’t let it stop you from expressing your appreciation for them. And if for some reason a rift is keeping you from connecting, try a little humble pie with your turkey dinner.

Why? Because as Henry Ward Beecher put it: “Pride slays thanksgiving, but a humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grows.”