12 Days of Thanksgiving: G

Gourmet.

At our house, we have a Little People Thanksgiving set by Fisher Price that makes an appearance each year. It depicts a very cute version of the first Thanksgiving and includes two pilgrims, two indians, a bountiful picnic table and a little horse pulling a giant pumpkin in his cart. We usually make a big deal about getting it out as a celebration of the season, and this year it happened on Thursday. I was running behind in that part of our Thanksgiving ritual (typical this year), but that didn’t seem to dampen the excitement. After a few skirmishes over who got to help the pony drive his cart and who would hold the girl pilgrim, we settled into playing.

Little Drummer Boy and Bug have been immersed in Thanksgiving activities, programs and crafts this week. They’ve had Thanksgiving dinners at school, presented singing programs complete with chopping sounds and “10 little indians,” made pilgrim books and indian head-dresses, and read books. As LDB was setting up our little first Thanksgiving scene to his satisfaction, I made an off-handed observation: “They’re having their Thankgiving dinner.”  LDB was quick to correct me with a response that made me smile. And think.

“They’re having a FEAST.”

Hmmm. “Feast” is probably a new word for him, and I’m surprised he didn’t ask me how to spell it. We are in a perpetual spelling bee lately spurred on my the first steps in learning to read.

They’re having a feast. It was more than a lesson in semantics. Little Drummer Boy rightly recognized the distinction that our little pilgrims and indians weren’t just eating. It was evident to him they weren’t just getting by with table scraps. They were feasting.

It made me realize the truth that abundance is almost always in the eye of the beholder. Our mindset often determines how full our table is. And while I could expound a whole other post about the delicious family Thanksgiving recipes we look forward to, what’s steaming in the serving dishes really doesn’t affect our recognition of bounty. At least it doesn’t have to.

I’m so thankful for that reminder from my little Thanksgiving Gourmet this year. I want to enjoy this and the upcoming holidayseasons with a gourmet mindset, regardless of the circumstances. I want to cultivate a lifestyle where my eyes are always bigger than my stomach. I want to recognize and embrace the feast before me in each endeavor.