Ok, so I’ve obviously been on an unplanned break. I don’t know about you, but my calendar has already been doing the holiday s t r e t c h and I’ve just not found time to write. A lot has happened that I could write about- like burning up the motor in my Flawless personal trimmer- likely even before the warranty had expired. Not sure what that says about my hormone levels, but it can’t be good. Or my longtime doctor retiring, which will have me scrambling to find someone young enough to see me through to the end- literally. A longstanding doctor/patient relationship is kind of like an old married couple and now I have to go all the way back to a “first date” with someone new as we nervously get to know each other. Or Ruby’s altercation with a raccoon that left bloody claw marks across her face and nose, which the vet says will likely leave a scar. Having always relied on her looks, she’s kind of taken to her bed over it as she’s worried about how she’ll look for our family Christmas picture, this weekend. Or the fact that Carson has ONE more semester of college and we’re about ready to finally implement our home renovation plans and met with a contractor last week. Living in a renovation site with Davis and Ruby will either give a lot of good blog material for 2022 or end it all together with me having lost my mental faculties. Only time will tell. But, it’s Thanksgiving week, so we’ll have to come back to those topics later. This week is all about gratefulness.

Today, as I was driving, I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful the day was. The gold and orange leaves just popped against the bright blue fall sky. The wind blew the falling leaves around like confetti in the air. Everywhere I looked, I saw beauty and thought how God blesses us through His creation. This week just always has a different feel about it. We all seem to really be tuned in to all that God has done for us. The protection He’s given us to bring us this far. The freedoms and liberties we enjoy. The people He’s given us to love. The abundant physical provisions that sustain us. The forgiveness and grace He offers. This week, in particular, brings those things to the forefront of the mind where they should always reside. 

I’m really looking forward to the big gathering of my family that we didn’t get to have last year. There will be a house full of people and the Egg Bowl will be on in the background. There will be cousins, aunts, uncles, and kids that have gotten taller since we last met. The boys and boys-at-heart will end up in the backyard throwing a football around. The men will stand around outside with their hands in their pockets talking about man things. The tables will have beautiful centerpieces and extra chairs brought in for all the guests. There will be a lot of hugging and laughing and noise making. There will catching up and picture taking and candles burning. The food will be lined up for what seems like a mile. The dessert table- too much goodness for so little time. My mother and her sister will have executed their mother’s cornbread dressing recipe to perfection. And when the ice is in the glasses and the rolls are finally lightly browned, the crowd will be corralled into the house and the noise and the chatter will start to fade and my uncle, who has the gift of putting words together in a most beautiful way, will have our Thanksgiving blessing. There, as a family, we’ll bow our heads, young and old, and thank God for giving us another year to be together and for the way He’s held our family close through the generations. How He’s given us the strength to bear the losses along the way, for the faith that that has been passed down, and for the hope of a family reunion in heaven, one happy day. We’ll thank Him for all the ways He’s provided for us here in this life and the one to come and then we’ll lift our heads and open our usually teary eyes and the food line will quickly form. That’s been the same format for our family Thanksgivings for as far back as my memory will take me. Through the years, the location has changed. Some of the dear faces have left us. A lot of new ones have been added. The young have gotten older. Kids have grown into adults. But, the cornbread dressing recipe, my uncle offering a beautiful prayer, and our family united in faith and love have been constant.

On the Miller side, we’ll be missing Davis’ dad, this year. His absence will change most everything about that small gathering. We had our last Thanksgiving with him, last year, and didn’t realize it. That’s the thing about lasts- you rarely know when they’re happening. Just in the last few days, I’ve talked to several friends and acquaintances and have been reminded that the holidays will be a difficult time for a lot of people, this year. We all, inevitably, have our turn at having particularly hard ones. Holidays highlight the empty chairs, the unwelcome life changes, and the loneliness felt in the heart. If someone is on your mind, this holiday season, say a prayer for them, make a phone call, or pull up an extra chair at your table. We’re all on this journey together and we need each other. At times, a whole lot. 

I’m so very thankful for you and your support of my blog. You really just can’t imagine how much. I’ll check in as often as my schedule will allow through the holiday season, but we’ll get back to a more normal flow in the new year! Have a most wonderful Thanksgiving day and, if you’re in a particularly hard season, know that you’re not alone. There will be a lot of families having difficult holidays, this year, and God knows each and every one by name. May He give you peace. 

JONI 

The cool air of fall has set in and, as you might imagine, I couldn’t be happier. This week, our heat came on for the first time and diffused that lovely aroma of burning socks throughout the house. For 8 1/2 months of the Mississippi year, I live for this right here. This long-awaited, albeit, brief cool period. We, cold lovers, have November through mid-February to cool off and then it’s basically over for another long stretch of months and months’ worth of heat. Sure, we get excited about September and October when all the commercials are pumpkin spice and flannel shirts, but it’s just because we like to play pretend fall during those months, while you, Northerners, are already in your sweaters and jackets. The only real changes we have, at that point, are that we buy some candy corn, switch from our pastel short sleeves to our earth tone short sleeves, and then wait. And most years, we even have to subtract the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas from our already deficient pile as some mysterious phenomenon occurs in the South during those weeks- usually resulting in us switching back to the A/C and wearing shorts to see Santa. 

Anyway, I can’t explain why I’m drawn to this time of year, but I have been all my life. The cold, cloudy days have always been my favorite. The chilly winds blowing the leaves loose from their trees and moving the dark clouds across the sky. The earlier arrival of nightfall. The layering and bundling up. The hunkering down and covering up. The lazy, cold and rainy days. All the things that most of my friends despise are my very favorite things. I know. I’m an oddball. But, it’s like I go from just trudging along through the scorching months to suddenly feeling renewed and resuscitated simply by the chill in the air. 

Maybe another reason I’m partial is because I feel like this season brings more than just temperature changes. It’s this time of year when we become more loving, giving, and outward thinking than usual. Our hearts turn a little softer and our bad attitudes seem to mellow. We’re more sensitive to the needs of others and are more eager to share our blessings. We become mindful of the source of our provisions and tend to become more thankful for them. We’re gathered inside from the cold and darkness- forced away from our busyness and into the warmth of home with family and friends where we can enjoy what’s really important. Our thoughts just seem to be turned outward and upward as we go through this most lovely season and I love that, too. 

When I was a kid, I hated going to the doctor, but the winter months always brought me the sicknesses that were circulating around school at the time. Back in the day, a visit to the doctor with fever and a sore throat was an automatic sentence to a shot in your tail. You knew when the doctor rolled his stool over to the door, opened it, and gave the order to the nurse that ended in the letters, cc, you were doomed. As much as I hated turning over on that crinkly paper and having my bony bottom harpooned, there was something that happened afterward that I did love. We’d go home and, besides the overall preferential treatment we got when we were sick and having Sprite in the house, my mother would always tell me to get into my pajamas and she’d make up the couch as my sick bed so I could watch TV. I’d lie down on the bed of sheets and quilts and pillows and then she’d come and cover me with blankets. She’d pulled them up to my chin, tuck them in tight, and ask me if I was warm enough. Even though I was sick with chills and fever and it was cold outside, I had nothing but cozy feelings of being snug, safe, tucked in and cared for by my mother. 

We’ve all been through a lengthy season of boiling controversies and fevered debates. Some people have really heavy issues hanging in the air and the realities of these changing times- well, they can leave us feeling as if we might just self-combust. There are many with health troubles and financial worries and future concerns- honestly, I feel like we’re coming through what’s been a sort of oppressive season for everyone. Maybe a cool down is just what we need right about now- in more ways than one. A time to rest and regroup. To slow down, take a breather, and refocus our gaze. 

Whatever ails you. Whatever is weighing on your heart. Whatever is causing your spirit to be discouraged. Whatever emptiness you feel. Whatever worry is keeping your mind from rest. Whatever need you have. Whatever circumstance you can’t change. Whatever weariness overcomes you. Whatever loss still haunts you. Whatever fear won’t leave you alone. Whatever thoughts overwhelm you. Let your Father wrap you up in His blanket of love. Let Him pull them up to your chin and tuck them in tight and let this new season be one of respite and healing for the soul. No matter how sick or weak you’re feeling or how cold the winds blow around you, rest in the safety and comfort of being covered and cared for by the God of the universe. 

“But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.” Psalm 5:11-12