The History of Thanksgiving... at our house.

Thanksgiving was our first holiday as a married couple. At least it was to me. It is not a recognized holiday in South Africa, and Chris could easily unrecognize every holiday! He was under great stress from work when I mentioned its approach. (I still haven’t mastered the art of timing important conversations.) He was overwhelmed already and hastily responded, “I don’t want to deal with it!” I cried over a bowl of leftover chili on the 4th Thursday of November that year. (Not our best newlywed moment.)

We moved to Cape Town the next year and didn’t know anyone as our second Thanksgiving rolled around. Chris is a quick learner and encouraged me to celebrate in whatever way was important to me. I explored every grocery store and cooked an entire traditional Thanksgiving meal for our family of three. Artistic, 8-year old Lifa was charged with making decorations and placemats. Our small, intentional Thanksgiving was a turning point for us. It reminded me of 1 Corinthians 12, which teaches that we each bear a special gift that makes us vital parts to the body. With humility and care, my husband created space to allow my gifts of planning and celebrating and Lifa’s gift of creative expression to be activated. It was the super-best!

The next year, THIRTY South Africans flooded into our home! TEN TIMES more people than the previous year filled their Thanksgiving plates high. We’ve had over 60 people each year since, and I’ve had to share my American recipes with a local caterer (who was thrilled!) to help me. We take a collection from our Thanksgiving guests and spend the money to provide Christmas hams for families in need. Thanksgiving has become an epic event for our family.

Now that we’ve nailed the jumbo Thanksgiving, ‘Rona is shaking things up again!

Fellow celebrators and lovers of pumpkin pie, don’t let this year’s circumstances knock you down.

Don’t jump on the bandwagon of 2020 “survivors”. Stop your negative memes. This is OUR YEAR!

This is the year for people who pray, people who love, and people who have hope in their hearts. Rise up, and share with those who don’t. If you know Jesus, you’ve got a miracle inside of you waiting to bust out!

I already see good in our 2020 holiday season. This is going to be our best Thanksgiving ever!

The boys and I have begun preparing our Thanksgiving feast. Lifa does most of the work. Benjamin undoes it. I stand between them giving orders and shouting “NO” or “Yes!” I also play the very important role of Christmas music DJ. The Ladd family unashamedly listens to Christmas trap music on the regular.

Instead of reaching far, we are going deep this year. Two families will join us for Thanksgiving lunch on Saturday. They are our best friends, and we do daily life with them. They are each bringing dishes over (I sent recipes!), and our kids love each other.

I ordered a tiny toddler picnic bench for our four toddlers to sit at. The little ones are coming over Wednesday to make Thanksgiving decorations that involve paint, patience, and me asking Chris to leave the house or not look outside at the unavoidable chaos. I’ve got conversation starters and a Thanksgiving Would You Rather game to put on the dinner table. We will personalize placemats, and maaaaybe even play a little Thanksgiving Minute to Win It.

We are building family, community and culture this year. We are going deep through laughter, intentionality, and washable paint. People are worth it. People need to be loved on and to laugh this year. People also need pie. So much pie.

Do your own flavor of holidays this year, but do them well. Do them with joy. Use your gifts and strengths, and don’t do the things that drain you. Ain’t nobody got time for that in 2020! This is your year to finish well - to not talk about how hard things were and to walk in your giftings.

Talk about the good stuff. If you can’t think of any good stuff to talk about, play Thanksgiving Would You Rather, and at least get a good giggle!