"Mom! Mike keeps poking me!" "Is there any more stuffing, Grandma?" "Jeff and John, get out from under the table right now!" "Aunt Pat, Kimmie spit up again!" Thanksgiving memories of long ago. Rejoice!

In those years, Thanksgiving dinner was always the best meal of the year. Our small relation was still ample enough to overflow the dining room with squirming kids, football chatter, and frequent laughter. But then would come time to pay the piper.

"Okay, children, be still for a moment while Grandpa takes a picture." Ask us to carry plates into the kitchen or take out the garbage or even help dry the dishes, but do not attempt to get us kids to sit still for a picture.

"Say cheese!" Agonizing seconds followed until: "Okay, nobody move yet. The flash didn't work this time." Grandpa's flash never worked the first time.

Finally, after removing, licking, and replacing the bulb, we'd hear: "Jerry and Ron, quit making funny faces. Now smile." Flash! Rejoice!

It took years for me to realize how truly blessed a childhood I had. It became clear as I've counseled those who don't have such fond memories. That's why telling others about a joyful future with Jesus has become all the more important to me.

What opportunities we have to help others shape wonderful new memories this entire holy-day season! Thanksgiving is a kind of doorway to Christmas and Jesus. Candlelight services, children singing of a manger, and a church dressed up to celebrate the birth of our King—all this and more so we can aid lonely hearts and empty lives to truly give thanks. Rejoice!

We might use the Thanksgivings in our memories as a springboard to conversation with others. They may be thinking about what they are going to do this Thanksgiving holiday. Talk about the past and lead them to think about the future—not only tomorrow but an endless future with Jesus. Invite them to spend the present Thanksgiving with you at your church.

Today my family is spread all over the country. Gathering together is becoming more difficult and more infrequent. I get excited just thinking about sitting once again with my grandparents and all the believers in my relation, united not just by ancestral blood but even more so by the blood of our Savior! What fun we shall have sitting at the table of Jesus, our minds and hearts filled with wonder. And thankfulness. And joy!