Thanksgiving....
A time to thank God for my blessings
And they are many
Material things
A warm and lovely home
food in the fridge
cars in the garage
an endless list too numerous to post
Heart-string things
A loving husband
A daughter and son-in-law
A brand new granddaughter
A group of friends that rival no other
A prodigal who is missing but deeply loved
Spiritual Things
My God
My Salvation
My Hope in the One Who has given me all of these things
Why can holidays hurt so bad?
They are meant to be a time of
coming together
loving on one another....
But for many
...And my time came this year...
They hurt
They hurt bad, and deeply, and to the core of my being
someone missing
An empty place at my table
He said he was coming
...maybe bringing a friend
but 5 minutes before he was to arrive
the phone rang
"not feeling well..."
"can't come"
"maybe next time"
"soon"
When my daughter and family arrived, her face was masked
trying to be strong for me, I'm sure
Hurting in her own way
The table was set for six
Easily seating eight
Time to reduce it to four
Hurriedly she removed the place setting
erasing the hope of a shared family meal
sparing me the unspoken pain that was already
seeping through my pores...
Funny...
This year was to be the year we
added a place to the table
The birth of our granddaughter symbolized the
increase to our family
to rejoice in the gift of new life
and we did...
but
there was still that empty place
It makes me wonder how many times God has "set a place" at His table for me. (Psalm 23:5) And how many times I haven't shown up. How many times He waits for me to come to Him so that He can comfort me and give me rest in my time of need.
So that He can tell me that I'm valuable and loved and a special part of
His family
That he can tell me that I'm irreplaceable
That others can come to share in His bounty, too
but
they don't take my place
That He sets a place before Him
just for me
Tina...I have tears for your hurt...this was our first Thanksgiving where we had an empty seat where my dad sat at last year.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your heart~
And just as our heavenly father waits with loving arms for us...so do you...loving, waiting, praying ...I am waiting and praying along with you...
<3 u~ Janet
"The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.
The Lord watches over all who love him"
Psalm 145: 17-20
How very difficult this must have been for you - I share your heartache and your tears. An empty place, an empty heart. Only God can understand. And He is sitting at a table set for only two - you and Him - and He's inviting you to pour out your heart to Him. Share some time at the place that belongs ONLY to you - the place YOU hold in the heart of a loving Father - the One who calls you Daughter...
ReplyDeleteGOD BLESS, T -