The popping of cranberries

Wednesday, 2:00 a.m.

Can life get any sweeter? Cranberries are popping on the stove so they can spend the rest of the night swimming in sugar; sweet potatoes are boiling and I'm about to open this season's first carton of eggnog.

This has already been a blessed Thanksgiving celebration. Tonight we attended a glorious service at our church. The worship room was packed, voices sang loudly and joyfully in praise of the Holy Father. Children were invited to come up and share what they are grateful for, and Psalm and Wolfgang chose to go up front. Psalm said he was grateful for Bethany, and Wolfgang for his mommy and daddy. Three members of our congregation had been asked in advance to share what they are grateful for and my husband was one of them. The way God has moved in his life is truly worthy of praise. I feel his testimony touched everyone.

We took communion and sang some more, then ate lots of pie! Bethany got her first taste of pumpkin and she did not appreciate the limits I imposed one bit.

I was joyfully surprised by how many children spoke of being thankful for their freedom to worship freely in our country.

~~

Thursday, 5:35 a.m.

I really should be getting to bed but I am only now getting to that eggnog. Tonight has been very productive. Thus far, we have the following on the menu for tomorrow and all of it is sitting in the refrigerator ready to be heated up:

Turkey, prepared with an olive oil and herb rub, stuffed with vegetables, and sitting in a bed of vegetables and white wine

Homemade stuffing in the crock pot

Cranberries

Maple-glazed sweet potatoes topped with pecans

Stuffed manicotti (I opted to purchase this pre-made instead of making it fresh)

Pumpkin pie

Blueberry pie

I am thankful that God has equipped me to cook for my family. Truly, He has brought me a long way. Alex did most of the cooking in our home for the first several years of our marriage and I was rather scared in the kitchen. Tonight has gone without a hitch.

At church, I began to process something that has been forming in my heart for a couple of weeks. We love it here in Alaska, although it is painfully far from the rest of our family. Especially now with Alex's sister back in southern CA, we are acknowledging how it is on us now and our own joyful task to establish rich traditions in our family for the children.

This is my first year cooking a Thanksgiving meal for my husband and little ones and it is a uniquely precious experience. The process itself brings back so many memories. As much as I miss my family, I feel very connected to them through the images these dishes evoke.

My mother will be surprised to learn that I have opted out of canned cranberries in favor of fresh. She would always make a delicious, fresh cranberry sauce but humor my crass tastes with the canned variety. I see my stepfather Papa Bob in my mind wielding the electric knife before a huge turkey. I see Grandma Jane too. She was the master pie chef of the family and always went all out at every holiday. It was very touching to see my stepmother Debbie take over that tradition after Grandma Jane lost her life so unexpectedly two years ago. When Debbie came up to see us last year with my dad, Debbie made pies with the kids. So many blessings. So much to be thankful for.