Thanksgiving 2026
The measure of our marriage
This has been
quite the year for us, and while we have been shaken to the core of who we are;
our core, our foundation, Jesus Christ, has remained unshaken, steadfast, and
our refuge. Life is not touch football, or flag football, life is full-contact
football and we all can be blindsided at one time or another.
On the morning
of March 30, 2026, at breakfast, Vickie and I were talking about how long our
parents and grandparents had lived, and how many more years we might have
together, by God’s grace. That very night Vickie was admitted to ICU with a massive
bilateral pulmonary embolism, with the right side of her heart shutting down. Do
you think there is a lesson here?
With the above
as a backdrop, an image recently came to me of our marriage that I’d like to
share with you, it is an image of the way we’ve endeavored to live in Christ,
and an image of the way I hope we will die in Christ.
Thanksgiving has
wonderful memories for us, while also being bittersweet in that my dear brother
Jim went to be with Jesus on Thanksgiving as did our beloved friend Gloria. We’ll
have a Greater Thanksgiving when we are with them again, never to be parted.
One of our
memories, which we were just talking about, was a Thanksgiving in Beverly, MA
in which our home was filled with friends from England, Spain, Greece, Germany and
the U.S.A.
After the
cleanup, after everyone had left, as we were decompressing from a beautiful day,
our thoughts turned to that most delicious of delights, turkey sandwiches.
After all, is this not why we roast turkeys? Are leftover turkey sandwiches not
the true dessert of Thanksgiving? Turkey on white bread with mayo, salt and
pepper, and maybe lettuce, and maybe some cranberry. Yes, some may use dinner
rolls instead of white bread, that is acceptable, let us not quibble about
bread, let us not have schism over bread.
I don’t recall
if Vickie or I looked in the refrigerator first; first one of us did, then the
other. No leftover turkey. While it pains me, I’ll write it again, no turkey. As we verified the complete absence of
leftover turkey, that delicacy of delicacies, as we discussed the dire
situation we were in, we realized what had happened. Between the two of us, we
had given all the turkey away as we were distributing containers of leftovers
to our dear friends.
All the turkey
had been carried out the front door of our home and whisked away to be enjoyed
by guests, our friends, our dearly beloved brothers and sisters.
There was not a
piece of white meat, not a piece of dark; other than the carcass there was no
proof that there had ever been a turkey in our home that Thanksgiving.
We laughed and
we are still laughing. We rejoiced, and we are still rejoicing.
Our friends had
given us the gift of a loving and memorable Thanksgiving. They had graced our
home, petted our dogs, laughed with us, rejoiced with us, bathed us and one
another in love and peace – and created a wave of God’s Presence that still
carries us along. What is a little turkey among friends?
As Vickie and I
approach this Thanksgiving, and as I give thanks for the miracle of Vickie’s
healing and recovery – all through the grace of God – (a recent scan showed no
evidence that she ever had the bilateral pulmonary embolism, no evidence
of the myocardial infarction) – I am reminded that Jesus tells us, “Freely you
have received, freely give.”
I am grateful
for another Thanksgiving with Vickie (the Lord willing!); I am thankful for
every day with her. I am thankful that I am married to a woman with whom I can
give all the turkey away. Because you see, our lives are not measured by what
we have accumulated, but by what we have given away. They are not measured by
what we have experienced, but by what we’ve helped others experience.
My hope is that
this will always be the measure of our marriage in our Lord Jesus.
My prayer is God’s
blessing on you and yours this Thanksgiving.
Love…much love…
Bob
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