Before You Buy the Turkey
The 4 Conlees are not huge turkey and dressing kind of people. Outside of Thanksgiving, no one in our home ever asks for me to cook a turkey. In full disclosure, I sometimes wonder if it’s just my turkey they don’t prefer. However, I’ve never seen any of them order turkey at a restaurant, either. So, next week when I make my grocery list for Thanksgiving, it’ll definitely include more food than normal… just not the traditional kind.Besides the food, most of us are also coordinating plans. Where will we eat? Who’s in town? What time works with all of the moving pieces? It’s hard not to be excited at the thought of a few days off, good food, and family. All of us have much to be thankful for… even on a bad day.But before we get any closer to the day of gratitude, I want to encourage you to be equally diligent to reach out to someone who may not be anticipating a joyful Thanksgiving. Perhaps you know someone with a family member who’s sick. I bet you know someone who’s struggling because money’s tight. Is there anyone in your circle where divorce has caused a sweet holiday to become a divided holiday? Who do you know who will have their first Thanksgiving without a loved one?[bctt tweet="Who do you know who needs some extra love this Thanksgiving?"]We can get so busy with our own Thanksgiving to-do list that it’s easy to forget that, as believers, we have the privilege of bringing hope and joy to others, even in hard times. Don’t wait til next Wednesday night and don’t give a half-hearted invite. Stop now and ask the Lord who you can encourage. Here are a few ideas:
1. Invite someone without family in town to join your feast.
2. Ask a family if you can deliver a Thanksgiving meal for their family.
3. Reach out to a single mom and ask if you can provide some gift cards for her to use for fun over the holiday weekend (movie gift cards, ice cream, Toys R Us).
4. If you partake in crazy black Friday shopping, invite a woman struggling with loneliness to join you.
5. For those struggling with loss, perhaps some company some time over the weekend would be a huge encouragement.
6. A friend of mine lost her father on Thanksgiving, so now their family goes to the hospital each Thanksgiving to encourage and love on those who have loved ones in the hospital that day. What a beautiful idea!
I challenge you to identify who God wants you to love on outside of your family. Pick a person today. Reach out to them by tomorrow so they can be blessed by knowing that God hasn’t forgotten them in this season. Have other great ideas? Please leave them in the comments. And then… come back and share your stories with me of how God worked.