Okay, please disregard the sick joke by an unnamed relative as I was frying the turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. The Texas Thanksgiving holiday could not have been better with and abundance of family, feasting and football. Since our son moved back to Waco last summer, we have enjoyed the nostalgic of visits to the Lone Star State where both our children and two of our grandchildren were born.

The week was framed by a mission conference at Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston prior to Thanksgiving and a Lottie Moon Christmas Offering focus at First Baptist Minden, LA following the holiday. Both churches have strong mission involvement overseas and are among the top churches in the SBC in giving to LMCO. We went a little out of our way traveling from Houston to Waco to visit good friends, Bill and Mary Dean Phillips (pictured) who have retired in Marble Falls. We enjoyed many good times traveling with them when Bill served as area director for West Africa.

Prior to turkey day I gave my son a promised early Christmas present of landscaping the backyard of their new home. Applying my well-honed Mississippi horticulture skills, and with the help of two teenage grandsons, we tilled the perimeter and planted aesthetically placed crape myrtles, camellias, nandinas, knock-out roses and loroseptaleum. We were ready for relaxing and feasting on the big day, but only after Papa deep-fried the turkey with a strong dose of creole marinate.

The big delectable, juicy bird did not last long as the family gathered with our daughter-in-law’s sister’s family and some missionary friends. Carving the turkey did allow me to salvage a drumstick for my personal indulgence during the afternoon ballgames—a longtime tradition at our house. It was more exciting watching the usual Dallas Cowboys game in the midst of partisan home state fans in the afternoon and then watching Mississippi State upset Ole Miss in the evening. That was simply the precursor to a full weekend of close games and upsets that followed.

The holiday reminded us of so much for which we are thankful. The blessing of family was highlighted by a half-hour video Skype call with our daughter’s family serving the Lord in Central Asia. We are thankful for health, for ministry opportunities in serving the Lord, and for grandchildren that are growing physically, educationally, and spiritually in their walk with the Lord. And as Americans we are still thankful for the freedoms and prosperity we enjoy in spite of disturbing trends in our nation and around the world.