Thanksgiving at the Tadas’ Table
“How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? It’s just a vapor, appearing for a little while, and then vanishing.”
James 4:14
We all know that Thanksgiving is a time set apart for family and friends to express their love for each other and their gratitude to God for his blessings. But this year, my love for family and thanksgivings to God will be far sweeter and deeper than in years past.
In short, I didn’t expect to make it to Thanksgiving Day! When 2019 began, I was just healing up from another cancer surgery, and about to undergo 35 rounds of radiation on my already-weak lungs. Then, immediately after radiation, I landed in the hospital for two weeks with pneumonia and a strange new condition called ‘pulmonary hypertension.’ Things didn’t look too good back in spring! Then, just a month or two ago, Ken Tada went through a health scare. Although my husband got the all-clear from our doctors, it left us with a sobering sense of how fragile, how frail life really is.
Every day is a gift from God!
We are so like James 4:14, where the Holy Spirit tells us, “How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? It’s just a vapor, appearing for a little while, and then vanishing.” Every day is a gift from God! So, this Thanksgiving we are keeping it simple – my nephews and sister-in-law will bring casseroles and pie, and Ken Tada and I will roast our regular turkey using an old Martha Stewart recipe. But no doubt about it, when it comes time to put down the dessert forks and circulate words of gratitude around the table, we’ll also be circulating something else… a boutique box of Kleenex.
If you have a minute today in between checking on the Turkey and stirring the green beans, I’d love to hear what you are thankful for. And Happy Thanksgiving from the Tadas!
–Joni Eareckson Tada
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