The Ten-fold Thanksgiving
They ranged in age from 3 months to 79 years. Our Thanksgiving guests came from every walk of life, spoke multiple languages, and one of them is going for his purple belt in karate this weekend. It was everyone’s first time to celebrate my favorite American holiday, and they had all googled “Thanksgiving” before they came to know what to say, bring and expect. They had hilarious expectations from American movie clips, and they came with flowers, chocolate, wine, hugs, double-cheek kisses, a jar of honey, a candle, a ball, and a giant clay pot. South African hospitality is amazing!
I was on the fringe of exploding as every answered prayer walked through our door and said, “Happy Thanksgiving!”
A pilates class, a makeup store, swim lessons, an educational therapist office, a hair salon, a neighborhood walk – when you enter a city with a blank slate, everywhere you go is an opportunity for something new and incredible.
The excitement in the air was so thick you could almost chew it, and no one hesitated to humor my Thanksgiving activity. (I love activities.) The room full of strangers gathered around the table with colorful fabric pens and a table runner to commemorate the day and document their gratitude.
Gathering around a table for gratitude was the beginning of an extraordinary night of family.
With fabric marker smeared on our fingers, we squished into a big circle around the table. My man put his strong arm around me, and we beamed at our guests. Lifa ducked behind us, nervous that Dad would ask him to pray for the meal.
Chris told the room, “You are the fulfillment of our dreams and prayers.” You could feel that truth hit hearts like a missile.
He said, “Last year Kacy cried the entire week before Thanksgiving because we didn’t know anyone in the city. We had only lived in Cape Town a few weeks. Last Thanksgiving, we prayed and believed that next year we would have a house full of people to celebrate with. That’s you. You’re here. Thank you for coming.”
Thankfully, all of the pie filling I consumed for lunch (multiple lunches) must have blocked my tear ducts, so I held it together for his speech and just kept smiling.
The room smiled back. 24 adults, 7 children, 3 babies. There were 34 of us. We prayed together and taught them about Thanksgiving food. “Sweet potato casserole is a side dish and not a dessert. Consider it a vegetable, even though it’s made with the same ingredients as a cookie.” By the end of the night everyone was going back for thirds of it, and we were calling it “salad”.
It was perfect. Babies were being passed hip-to-hip, taste buds were exploding with new tastes, and family started happening. By the end of the night, strangers were exchanging phone numbers, and I think we all experienced a true taste of family.
Sugar-faced.
As we finally fell into our bed at midnight last night, we were overwhelmed with the goodness of His Family. Prayers were answered. Strangers shared lives, babies, and a meal together. We gathered tables and our gratitude, and everything changed.
I took advantage of the 30-second window of consciousness between Chris Ladd’s head hitting his pillow and instantaneous REM cycle. I reflected, “Last year, it was just 3 of us, and we prayed the next year we would have a house full. This year we had more than 10x that.” He said, “Next year, maybe it’ll be 300.” I replied, “At least. It could be 3,000.”
The King of Kings says, “The table has been prepared for us.”
This city wraps around Table Mountain, and approximately 4 million people are positioned it. It is estimated that only 2% of those people have found their place at His table and belong to a church family. There is limitless possibility for this city!
Last year, we brought our whole hearts and all we had, even when it was tough. And we were trusted with ten-fold. This year, we have full hearts and stomachs. We are praying exponential prayers for next year’s Thanksgiving and this year’s miracles. We will go out armed with gratitude everywhere we go, and we will invite all we encounter to the table that has been prepared.
Click here to read last year's Thanksgiving story.