Remember that Thanksgiving Day is not a scene in a Hallmark movie, but a chapter in a much bigger story with real people, real places, and a very real God.
Bring your favorite dish to the table, not your favorite grudge.
Let sleeping dogs lie. Leave the barking dogs at home.
Don’t just say grace. Practice it.
Be the first to hug.
The best Thanksgivings are the creative ones. How differently can we make this one?
If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Romans 12. 18 Even now. Even in this.
Spend more time setting the tone than setting the table.
Remember to thank God….and the host family.
Take Paul’s fashion advice. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving one another, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also much forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Colossians 3. 12-14
What are we really grateful for? It shows.
If you have to be competitive, choose kindness: Outdo one another in showing honor. Romans 12.10
Which seat do we choose? Head of the table? Or taking the table leg no one else wants?
Leave your cape at home. You don’t have to be the hero.
Laugh early and often, but not at someone else’s expense.
Don’t let the traditional meal be something no one wants to remember.
No need to replay past documentaries. We all have histories that God is still redeeming.
It’s more important to be kind than to be right.
Let Christ be the lingering aroma.
Find something you like on the buffet of conversation.
Don’t just look for the joy. Bring the joy.
Mercy triumphs over judgment, criticism, and burnt rolls. James 2. 13
Be mindful and thankful for those faithful ones who have gone before us.
Avoid the obvious potholes.
Give thanks in all circumstances. 2 Thessalonians 5. 18 Find something.
Think of it as the one day, possibly the one remaining moment to love that person.
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving… Psalm 50. 14 I have always thought that the sacrifice of thanksgiving is thanking God even before we see the outcome.
Remember to have fun!
Look for the blessings. Bring the blessing in many different flavors. Be the blessing.
Walk differently through that door this year.
Pray your way in.
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