The origin of the word holiday comes from Old English “haligdaeg,” which mean holy day combined. So the next time someone greets you “Happy Holidays” just reply, Happy Holy day to you too! The meaning gets all twisted to make sure no one is offended by saying Merry Christmas. This type of political correctness is ridiculous because 10 years ago it was not a big deal to greet a customer with “Merry Christmas.” The road we have taken not to offend will soon lead to a simple nob of the head without uttering a word.

Thanksgiving is upon us! Then Black Friday, then support your local small business Saturday. I love the Holy Days!

Mike, took over making our Thanksgiving dinner early in our marriage. We discuss the meal planning and my answer is always “I guess that’s a good idea.” I really don’t have a clue because my role is to clean up after he is done with the  cooking.  The main course, the turkey spends a spa night soaking in a special brine. The wonderful creamed corn, the potatoes au gratin and the stuffing made with corn tortillas are the part of the most perfect meal. Mike’s production in the kitchen is a labor of love for all of us. He is the  reluctant chef, and needs our affirmation to make sure that his efforts are not in vain. I make the gravy. No one knows that my soul is in this menial effort, no one affirms the taste or the perfection of the texture. They just take it for granted, gravy is gravy right? So what if it takes a total of five minutes to make, you can’t have turkey without it.

The table will be set with gold rim dishes from Target and turkey salad plates from Home Goods and I will bring out my crystal that I purchased for a song in Poland. I do not have 16 matching anything so we will do with what we have.

The appetizesr and salad are made by Jenny (daughter-in-law). Her dressings are always homemade and everyone loves to start dinner with the finely shopped concoction of fresh vegetables. Her appetizers are equally as tasty, some I enjoy more than others but I have the tendency to fill up on those extra carbs.

Sonja’s  (daughter)  job is desserts. Turtle cheese cake, pumpkin pies, pecan pies and sometimes peanut butter balls. This year she wants to make mimi everything and though I gave a thumbs up I not sure if this is going to work for us. Mini means one serving and on this day I’m thinking that this may not be enough for us to really pig out. I feel like it’s more like portion control. Sonja is just making enough for two each, that really is not sitting well with me either, what if we want more? I praying she will change her mind.

Have you ever suffered from a food coma? This happens when all the carbs meet in your stomach and fight for their rightful place.  The internal battle so intense it tires, therefore causing drowsiness and incoherent behavior, the only antidote is a power nap or you could do what some family members do, mysteriously disappears and sleeping for hours. This type of gluttony is only acceptable several times a year, if you engage in this more than that, you are a bon a fide glutton.

The Bible speaks of gluttony as an addition. Proverbs 23:12 “The heavy drinker and the glutton will come to property, And drowsiness will cloth one with rags.” Of course this is an extreme for a Thanksgiving meal besides we are exempt on this day.

Getting together with so many people takes special graces and  we need to be loving. As a hostess it falls on me to be a servant as well, making sure all the needs of our guest are met. we are expecting 16 total guest and I want to be sure express the love of Christ to each one. Sometimes things don’t go as smoothly,  all we can do is just hold our tongues and smile believing that all will end well.

My Thanksgiving Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father we invite you in our home to bless all that pass through these doors. May your loving arms welcome each one of them, may they feel your love and special graces. Dear Lord, on this day set aside for thanksgiving may we all realize how very blessed we are to have each other. May our words be filter to be kind and sincere.  Let no one feel unwelcome or out of place in our home today and always. Bless all who lovingly helped with the production of the meal. Amen

It started with a schedule of the busy lives of our grandchildren Maddie, almost 12 years old and William (Wil) almost 10 years. Our son Mikos and his wife Jenny had to fulfill business travel plans in Hawaii so Maddie and Wil spent four days with us.   I prayed for special graces to get me through this week because Mike was traveling and would not be around to help.

Making breakfast for two extra people, packing lunches, braiding Maddie’s hair and off to school. Today was election day and in the evening a new president would be announced. Maddie had play practice so I did not have to worry about picking her up until 6:30pm. Wil and I bonded over vanilla shakes and fries (for him) after school. I was surprised at his disciple, I never mentioned homework but Wil  automatically hit the books and did not come up for air until he was done and he never asked for any help. The clincher was that later that day he wanted nothing to do with watching TV because he had reading to do. Did I pick up the wrong child? Was this kid my grandchild?

I was also in charge of the mild mannered Rosie, my granddog. She is still in the puppy stages and needs a lot of TLC. She sheds, chews, and digs holes in the backyard, other than that she is a sweetheart.

We picked Maddie up from play practice and planned our election party. Two of my dear friends Sarah and Dorothy were coming over to watch the results. We had been in contact all day praying for a favorable outcome, by the time they arrived we were presently surprised that Trump had a lead, but we never stopped praying! We waited for another announcement of a state and rejoiced with great excitement! Maddie and Will got into to the screaming and jumping up and down. Sarah’s husband Jason came by with two of their daughters and our family room was filled with hyper adults and screaming kids, it was close to nine by the time this party winded down, baths and homework won over the elections.

This election brought many of us to our knees. I have never prayed with such fervor, not because I wanted Trump to win but because we needed to get things back in order with our country, so many non negotiable  like the appointment of new supreme court justices and the right to life. Many of us Trump supporters were in the closet because of what spewed out of his mouth, I never cared for all the name calling. It was when it got closer to election day I felt that as a Christian I had to take a stand. I watched it all go down on social media, the hatred on both ends and did not want to be part of any of that rhetoric. There is a great divide in our country and I want to be part of rebuilding. The protestors will soon disappear, they always do but those who were not happy with the outcome must not operate in hatred and fear but accept that Trump is the president elect and pray for him. Give him the opportunity to do what he was elected for.

As I drive my grandchildren to school they want to listen to “their” music. It has been some time since listening to secular music  it has gotten a lot more risqué, way to much sexual content. One song lyrics are “I hate you, I love you” I changed  the wording to “I love you my Jesus, I love you.” I sang loud to drown out the confusing message, the kids just laughed. As a grandparents we have many responsibilities, to teach by example, to pray and to be patient. The latter was a big challenge, especially when it came to the small things like the new rage of bottle flipping. Bottle flipping started by some high school kid in 2016 as a talent show competition, now it has taken over school age kids like Wil.

Maddie is spending a lot of time  FaceTimeing  her friends, as a grandparent all I could do was monitor and follow the directive of her parents. One half hour in front of rest of the family is the rule.

We must never keep our guard down with our grandkids because they need to be saturated in prayer. This is my daily prayer:

Dear Lord, I pray that you watch over my grandchildren, let no harm come upon them. I pray for their safety and that you would give them wisdom to do what is right.  I ask that you would help them in their studies to always do their best. That they be kind and loving and treat others with respect. Dear Lord keep them from any life threating illness and let no hand come against them to harm them in anyway. I intrust them to your loving hands, Amen.

This is my general prayer but I personalize it for each of my four grandchildren.

God Bless!

As an 18 year old I was registered democrat. In my twenties the Peace and Freedom Party took hold of my young plyable mind. I was deeply entrenched in the thoughts that liberated and freed my cerebral branches. A mind with God in the shadows, a mind on its own path and taking anyone who would listen. Not realizing back then that I had a gift to influence others but with seeds of toxic ideologies that had hold of my soul. I believed in woman’s rights and all that it represented. No man was going to rule my life. This mind had only room for self and settled comfortably and controlled me. I was angry but not really sure why.

As far as I was concerned the Republican party was evil and hated minorities only representing the rich. My jaded thoughts were steeped in my heart and my entire family were registered Democrats , our thoughts were one; we ate the same mana laced with relativism. We had a picture of President Kennedy in our living room, he was our demi god and our mother loved him and taught us to respect and love our commander in chief.

Our mother always had a political influence on me and up to her dying day exercised her right to vote. I loved and respected this lesson that she instilled in all of us. She was patriotic and always for the underdog, I honored her dedication to always be heard.

Image being part of the Peace and Freedom movement and then becoming a Born-Again Christian (I am now Catholic)? This was a paradox and the two forces collided with only one winner. It was during these formative years of Biola University that the Word of God was taking hold of my heart and I could no longer be angry surrounded with so much peace. The growth in my beliefs superseded all and nothing was more important than  pleasing God. My life was finally on a track, this gradual but gentle change caused me to see things in a different light. Understanding the meaning of life and the purpose of why I was born, how God choose Mike as my helpmate was part of His plan. As I surrendered my will to God, my mind was maturing to what was expected of me as Christian.

There is a plan in action with this election and God is in control.  I have already cast my vote  but like the rest of Americans the sentiment is the same, I have witness so much negative press on both end of the spectrum it’s repulsive. I choose not to post any obnoxious opinions on fb because it is displeasing to God.  Jesus never bashes, he loves.

We all have our reasons for who we are voting  so I guess this goes out to all who believe in God and to those who are stating to choose the lesser of two evils. To God there is nothing more evil that killing innocent lives or changing what God intended for marriage.  Attending daily Mass does not make me holier than thou but it does give me peace about this election. Remember the non negotiable before you vote and choose life and pray, pray, pray!

“There is a way which seems right to man, but its end is the way of death.”  Proverbs 16:25