Me and my cute babies (Noah as a bumblebee)
When I say that much of this week was spent in "Fall Cleaning," you are supposed to be impressed that I am dedicated to undertaking the old-fashioned rituals of seasonal changes in the household. Under no circumstances are you to construe that "Fall Cleaning" is one of only two times a year I actually really clean anything. And in particular, you would be amiss to assume that these frantic, disorganized efforts are not driven by the orderly seasonal changes but by the simple fact we usually have many guests and visitors for Easter and Thanksgiving, thus I am propelled from my more natural state of lax ennui into raging perfectionism.
You don't want to miss this, come by sometime and enjoy it, it's like observing metamorphosis in the wild.
So, in preparation for our Thanksgiving dinner of 17 people, I work hard making up for all that wasn't done in the past several months. (In my version of "Tortise & the Hare" the Hare is vindicated with a tie race.) We reorganized the bedrooms into the "girl" and "boy" rooms, completely got rid of most of Ben's stuff in an effort to "help him" keep his room tidier. Noah was moved in with Ben and Lucy's crib was moved in with Sophie. While David worked on Lucy's crib, Lucy took her nap in Noah's newly-set-up Bed, and she looked so tiny in it I had to get a pic.
We had a very nice Thanksgiving with the Mosses, the Lyons and the Hunters. The children had a great time, and it was kind of chaotic, but I think it went ok overall. The food turned out very yummy.
I usually feel all deflated and postpartumy each year after the big Thanksgiving production, but this year I didn't. This was either due to my conscious effort to avoid it, all the wonderful cleaning I would still have to show for it afterward, or perhaps due to the absence of Ned, who missed our Thanksgiving for the first time in 12 years. Maybe it was his fault all along, but probably just a coincedence. We missed you, Ned!
I did think upon my blessings this week, thinking particularly of manna--a constant, miraculous blessing of sustenance from the Lord. When you read the story, it seems so amazing and such a conspicuous show of God's hand--how grateful and happy the Israelites must have been under such constant providence!
But were they?
It is hard to be thankful for our manna, however miraculous, when your heart and mind are on the promised land. It is hard to be content with manna when you want to be sowing and reaping your own field. We are to eat our manna still with faith in our ultimate destination -- that land of milk and honey. We are to be thankful, content and humble in the fact that at times we must daily depend on the Lord sometimes for things we feel we should be able to do for ourselves.
Sometimes he actually does just give us a fish when we feel we are ready to go out and be fish for ourselves. To be thankful for the fish, and not resentful that the long-term plan is not in place--that is the task of today.
So, this Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for manna, in all it's immediate, short-term sweetness, knowing it comes directly out of the hand of God. I know it is intended as transitional sustenance and a lesson in humility and faith, not as a replacement for the promised land itself.
Hope it was a great Thanksgiving for all.
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