The Day After Thanksgiving

Hi everyone! How was your Thanksgiving celebration? I pray you all had a good time, together with your loved ones and with our Savior, Who made everything possible!

I woke up early yesterday. My body was just used to having that self, built-in alarm, that roused me at every 3 or 4 am. I did my devotion at that time. As the dawn ended, and the tiny rays of the bright sun peeked through the lingering darkness of the night, I started cooking.

Out of the blue, my husband and son and I just agreed to go near the ocean and whatever I would cook, we’d take and enjoy lunch there.

Sometimes, this family is like that. We don’t plan. Sometimes, it’s better that way for us, having 3 different schedules sometimes to make it agree with each other’s at times. But with all our plans, there is always the 4th Person involved, Who happens to always have time though for us.

We all felt renewed yesterday. A feeling of gratitude just blanketed the Rcubes’ household. I had my hubby read Psalm 100 out loud after we prayed together. He is so good! The Lord is so good. All the time.

So, I peeled sweet potatoes as I boiled some wild rice and stuck the small piece of prime rib in the oven, the size which was enough for the three of us. As I started brewing coffee in the pot and made a heavy breakfast of potato hash browns and cracked eggs on top. The toaster was busy accommodating 4 slices that day at the same time. Let’s say in about 3 hours, I had the prime rib cut up in slices, gravy packed. With the side dishes of sweet potatoes sweetened with brown sugar and butter and wild rice with corn.

My husband, the whole time, readied the small RV we have. I love Roadtreks. Just the perfect size for us and it consumes gas like an SUV. [Attention: This is not a paid advertisement].

My son started preparing all the drinks and the other gadgets we needed.

With everyone working, we made it possible to leave the house by 9:30am.

The road was busy, filled with different kinds of vehicles trying to perhaps make it to their Thanksgiving lunch or dinner with their loved ones in another destination. We got to our favorite spot in no time. The wind was still. The skies were so blue and clear! The water was still. The little boats were docked in their slips, slightly dancing rhythmically with the little waves that occasionally rocked them. Some people were walking. Others were biking. Oh what a calming, peaceful place to be and enjoy His goodness!

We were so awed by the peacefulness that we hardly took pictures! But sometimes, the best in life can't be captured with any camera. It is just captured deep in your heart!

After a few hours of enjoying everything we prepared, we decided to go home a little early. We took the back roads as we neared our place. It was fun to see the other things we otherwise, would have missed if we didn’t take that opportunity to see and slow down with this pace of everyday living.

As my husband parked the RV, he saw me sweeping the leaves in the front yard and called out loud, “Thank God! If we didn’t go out, I wouldn’t have discovered that the hose connected to the sewer line had a big hole now and would need to be replaced.”

This was a big help for us because we were planning to take a trip next month. Can you imagine the big mess if my hubby didn’t discover that problem? “Thank God is just right!”

I loved that I heard him spoke with gratefulness despite that minor problem he encountered. Because that would always be the right attitude to have. To be thankful no matter what circumstances we’re in. Whether we are faced with sicknesses, even death, financial problems, losing our homes, divorce, losing loved ones…..We, as Christians, learn to endure. Our view must be focused toward God and with the eye of developing godliness.

Because that’s what our God says. We are not to tough it out through life because that’s the good thing to do, nor are we called to perseverance just to save face, to avoid embarrassment, or to escape ridicule.

We are called to endurance so that we can follow God, show trust in God, draw near to God, imitate God, please no one but God and reflect God to others.

So, this day post-Thanksgiving, may we all remain joyful and thankful because we are all called to a relationship with God. We are called to conform to the character of God. We are called to walk with God as Christ did. We are called to live by the power of God!

Psalm 95:6-7 -”Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, for He is our God.”