Welcome to Community Presbyterian Church

Dear Friends,

“I will give thanks to the Lord because of His righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.” Psalm 7:17  

As the season of Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, I find myself thinking back to Thanksgivings past. The Norman Rockwell painting of a Thanksgiving dinner often comes to our minds when we remember our feasts, but I have to be honest – I recall great meals with family, yet not quite like the one portrayed in the picture. 

As a kid, we didn’t have a formal dinning room so we would set up a large folding table in the living room. Then the key was always ‘timing’ to try and get all the dishes to be ready at the same time – it usually didn’t happen. Then there was also the problem of getting everything on the table, say the blessing and serve everyone before the food got cold – it usually didn’t happen. 

When Debbie and I married we always wanted to spend Thanksgiving with her mom and dad and brother – mom and dad had a formal dinning room! When our children came along it was a ‘given’ that Thanksgiving was at Nanny and Pop’s (mom and dad) house. 

But one year it was different. Nanny and Pops decided to be in Florida at Debbie’s brother’s condo for Thanksgiving. This was going to be a disaster. It appeared the four of us were going to have to celebrate Thanksgiving without Nanny and Pops! Our kids were distraught – Debbie was depressed and I was nervous. 

But something miraculous happened….  I was just finishing up my work out in the gym at Peterson Air Force Base on the Monday before Thanksgiving. (Now let me stop here and make a comment. I will be telling this story as I remember the details and they may be off a bit, but they are pretty close.) Anyway, on the radio in the gym I heard an advertisement from United Airlines, that during the holiday, United was offering ‘Thanksgiving Fares’. You could fly round trip anywhere United flew for $50.00 per person. There were limitations – it had to be a non-stop flight out of Denver and you had to fly on Thanksgiving Day and return before Sunday. 

United flew non-stop from Denver to Tampa where Nanny and Pops and John were staying! I immediately called Debbie to tell her and she got on the line to United and got us four tickets. We would leave Denver at noon on Thanksgiving and return the next day. We didn’t tell the children what we were doing. 

So Thanksgiving morning we all piled into the car along with two pies and overnight clothes (we did tell the kids we were going somewhere for Thanksgiving, but not where.) We started driving and the children had to guess where we were going. They guessed Wyoming, they guessed Northern Colorado – but when we turned toward the airport entrance, they got it! And I must say the car almost exploded with excitement. We arrived in Tampa late that afternoon and had our Thanksgiving dinner at 8:00 pm, but we were all together! We were on the ground in Florida for 18 hours and it was so worth the effort! 

Good memories of a Thanksgiving past. Debbie and I hope that your Thanksgiving is filled with good remembrances and much gratitude.     

Grace and peace, Bob