The Audacity of Interruptions
Hello Friends
Speaking of interruptions, I cautiously interrupt your travel and cooking frenzy to bring you the weekly news. (how dare she? Isn’t she the one who goes missing for weeks at a time, blaming it on the heat, the garden, the whatever… and now wants us to stop and read her email?)
Yes, that is me. And I hope you will take 5 minutes to yourself and take a deep breath. Holidays are hard. Lets address that elephant in the room. We go to great lengths to accommodate all the people we love so that we can enjoy precious moments with them. It’s never enough. This is even before we get to the kitchen! Having cooked almost every Thanksgiving meal over the past 42 years, I feel qualified to share some wisdom on thriving through my favorite holiday.
I really love Thanksgiving, but one thing I gave up early in my married life, internal judgement.
This is where you judge yourself more harshly than any of the guests around your table.
So here’s a few things to keep in mind while you prepare.
The focus is on thankfulness. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Even if the turkey is dry and the cranberries are canned.
Embrace the interruptions. The unwanted interruptions are often gifts for our soul. I found this amazing quote while looking for the words I needed here.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in his work, Life Together,
“We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions. We may pass them by, preoccupied with our more important tasks. . . It is a strange fact that Christians and even ministers frequently consider their work so important and urgent that they will allow nothing to disturb them. They think they are doing God a service in this, but actually they are disdaining God’s “crooked yet straight path.”
Cleanliness is next to Godliness but if you’ve done any cleaning at all- it’s clean enough! Unless your guests are staying over, forget cleaning the shower or tub. No one is checking the baseboards and the kids rooms don’t need to be picture perfect.
It’s more important to focus on the people around the table, not all the matching plates on the table. In other words, use the plates you love, even if they don’t match.
If you have extra chairs, invite a neighbor.
Ask the kids to help. Give them specific jobs like folding napkins, asking who wants water or iced tea, or taking dishes to the table or buffet. It’s more fun if everyone participates. Decorating place cards was a favorite activity of our kids. Plus they had the opportunity to switch the proposed seating arrangement!
People won’t remember your table setting, or the perfect pumpkin pie, but they will remember how welcome, warm and cozy you made them feel. Embrace the interruptions that God sends your way this week. The turkey can wait, or be shared, or dessert can be eaten hours after the meal. I hope you find joy in the day of Thankfulness.
Happy Thanksgiving
Janet
Proverbs 16:9 “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps"
SHOP SMALL PLEASE!
Not to get too lengthy with this, but this week is also the best shopping day ever! Nope, not Black Friday, SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY! Any day is a perfect day to shop with a small business and make their day brighter. Don’t forget the farm businesses too. (self promotion at it’s finest, since I am a farm business owner)
Here are two ways you can support our farm and our family businesses this season.
Yarn - Timber Creek Farm.
I sell only hand dyed wool or alpaca yarn using only natural dyes. I recently restocked the shop with freshly dyed yarn and embroidery thread for stitching and mending. Please take a look.
Books - Sawdust Publishing
Our family business that opened in 2023 now carries 16 titles of homestead, farm and children’s books. By supporting Sawdust Publishing you not only support us, but each homestead author that has written a book we published.
We offer dollar saving bundles for the holidays too. There are six bundles to choose from this year, along with all books being available individually too.
New recipe shared next week. Enjoy your turkey this week.