Surviving Holiday Entertaining: Epilogue

Phew! Thanksgiving is over and we all survived! But before we move on, one last lesson may be helpful--especially since Christmas entertaining is less than four weeks away! So, Lesson #5: remember the miracles that sat around your table on Thursday.

After entertaining it's sometimes easy to dwell on the new stain on the couch, that special piece of china that broke or the thoughtlessness of some of your guests. This year, take another page from Mary and Martha's entertaining survival guide and think for a moment about the miracles evidenced by your guest list.

That second dinner--the one where Martha served without complaint while Mary worshipped--was held at the house of a man named Simon the Leper. Now you know that lepers can't host dinners. In fact, at the time Mary and Martha lived, they were socially ostracized and forced to live away from family and friends until they died, disfigured and alone. Simon, however, had not died. God had apparently healed him of the terrible, terminal illness. Also seated around the table that day was Mary and Martha's brother, Lazarus. Lazarus actually had died from whatever illness he suffered. Yet there he was, enjoying Martha's dinner, because Jesus had miraculously raised him from the dead. Peter was at that dinner too, perhaps looking at Simon and Lazarus and thinking about his mother-in-law whom Jesus had cured of fever.

This year I sat down to celebrate Thanksgiving with my own mother-in-law. She has been cured of melanoma. My father was also at the table. He not only was healed of polio in a miraculous way as a child but also survived double bypass surgery this time last year. And my son was there--the son who has been saved from choking to death more than once.

What miracles were evidenced at your Thanksgiving dinner this year? Does the new stain on the carpet and the fact that no one helped you much really matter? You have a lasting treasure in the people with whom you celebrated and an even greater eternal treasure waiting for you in heaven.

"You...joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven." Hebrews 10:34