Tanning on Turkey Day

I love the Lord. Have I told anyone that lately?

He’s given me 5 days of downtime – time to be completely alone if I want – which I do at the moment.

This is the very first Thanksgiving Day I’ve spent by myself. Over-worked and under-rested (yes, that’s a word – I just made it up) I declined to do the family thing this year. My roommate is in Alabama with her family, my family is in Mississippi and I’m ALONE!!!

It’s funny how the passage of time changes your perspective. The 13 years I was with my ex, I dreaded the holidays, Thanksgiving in particular. It was the perfect excuse for all the men in his family to drink themselves stupid, and the women invariably bore the brunt of said stupidity. The years immediately following my marriage were times of loneliness – different than the loneliness that I experienced as a wife – and wondering when I would share in the festivities of another family’s traditions, and what they would be like.

This year, I find myself alone and thankful for it. I grew up in a very loose-knit family that I love, but one that only gathers for Thanksgiving and funerals. The community I’ve experienced at the Ring has gone a long way toward showing me what true fellowship looks and acts like. I look with alien’s eyes into the lives of my friends and the dynamics of their families, and maybe I’m a little envious of the love, laughter and belonging they share.

Praise the Lord that I belong to a much larger family now – the family of God – and, more intimately, the Ring family. If it is His will, one day I’ll belong to an earthly family – my husband’s family – and I’ll know the acceptance and belonging that comes with adoption into that family. For now, my adoption into the family of God more than sustains me.

So, how did I spend this balmy, Southern Thanksgiving? I read all morning, I tanned by the pool (yep, lying out at the end of November!) and then came in, ate a whole plate of green bean casserole left over from our Community Group Thanksgiving feast earlier this week, and read some more. It was great.