Pondering a Better Path

   It's so easy, isn't it? To let the 'holiday crazy' sneak into your mindset and terrorize your home. I refuse to go there...flat refuse. Commercial images of fat turkeys and perfectly pristine homes decorated with expensive non-necessities make me sick. We have forgotten what is important...what the purpose is..and, it's sad.
   While clipping hooves this week I pondered the traditions of my family over the years...the gatherings and preparings of Thanksgiving days. They were never elaborate or overdone...stressful, well, yes...but not overloaded with 'stuff'. Food and family...friends and fun..where has it gone?

   I am determined to tune the focus of my home this Thanksgiving...to once again reclaim the attitude of gratitude so desperately missing from our hearts and minds. This cannot be done with fancy decor or elaborate dining..no, that isn't where it is...it's through the togetherness of preparation and the peace of gatherings.
   When my house was full of children we set our month of November to learning about our heritage; the pilgrims, their plight, our family lineage, the natives and God's provision. Our activities focused on gratitude..reviewing the graces we had been given and praying for those in need. Meals were shared with family...decorations were simple, often handmade, focusing our hearts on being thankful..on being who we are.
   Those children turned to teens when I wasn't looking. Their minds are so busy with education and activity..to shift their focus is a challenge..to get them all home at the same time is a challenge. Our conversations lately show their distaste for the 'commercial craze'..I'm so grateful...and leaning more toward a desire for simplicity. Asking to hear that story one more time...sharing memories of the 'little things' we use to do.
   Our thanksgiving will be a simple one. Small family gathered here on the farm; no elaborate decor, no fancy 'picture perfect' gourmet meal. It will be a sharing of tradition, a time of remembrance, a gathering together...to bustle around the kitchen with busy hands preparing favored dishes...to sit with family chatting and sharing...to remember the past and the togethers from then to now.
   My heart craves the simpler path...the way of those long ago whose focus was on the graces of God and His merciful provision...the ponderings of a better path.