The Intentional Journey

The Bible seems very specific that we’re supposed to be thankful, period. No qualifiers needed. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:15 “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” which seems to say that gratitude should be a way of life. That doesn’t make it easy. I have a hard time with the holidays because the number of people around the table in my family has been shrinking. This is, of course, normal as people get older and pass away. In my family, however, we’ve lost four members of the same side between November 17 and December 7 - right in the prime of the holiday season. Add the sense of loss to my introversion and everything compounds. I love my family - in-laws and all. My family is large with a full gathering being between 10-20 people in the same place at any given time. It’s the appropriate level of noise for that size of gathering, which as I get older, is becoming too loud. And it’s draining. There’s the expectation that yo...

November 2012 was mom’s last Thanksgiving. I know, I know. What a depressing start to a blog post, but it leads to one of my favorite memories with mom, so I’m starting there. Every year for Thanksgiving, Mom made apple pies. It was her specialty, and the whole family loved to indulge in her pies.  Until 2012. Mom was too weak that year. In October, she had chosen to discontinue cancer treatments that were no longer working for her, and, by late November, when Thanksgiving came around, she wasn’t able to make the apple pies. So what did she do? She insisted that I make the pies.  Was she kidding me?  No, no she was not. I remember protesting a little, then requesting that she come over and help me, but that was a little too much too. She helped me over the phone, repeatedly telling me that she knew I could do it. In my mind, I knew I could do it too, but, in my heart, I also knew that I didn’t really want to do it.  I wanted Mom’s apple pies to be on the Thanksgiving...