All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. ~2 Corinthians 4:15 NIV
Thanksgiving morning dawns early. We are blessed in the Mastrantonio house that Grama and Papa, even though visiting and staying with us, want to prepare and cook the turkey!! Hallelujah!! Come to my house and cook the star of the Thanksgiving meal?! Yes, please! C’mon over.
The “boys” take off to a local school to play in the annual Turkey Bowl. This year marked the 19th year of the Turkey Bowl, and it’s little brother event, The Cornish Game Hen Bowl for the little kids. These people take this bowl game seriously. Well as seriously as you can when a group of 6-60 year olds gather to play football. They even have an official referee and score board. And they play all four quarters even in the pouring Oregon rains, and occasional frozen grounds.
Us girls probably could play if we really wanted to, but we prefer to stand bundled cute in layers with a hot cup of coffee or cocoa in our hands and cheer for “our team.” We return home to the smell of Grama and Papa’s turkey in the oven which can be smelled all the way out to the street. (The smell of turkey will always make me thankful for my family.) And we get warm by the fire and watch a little more football from the comfort of our home. And we just sit thankful, kids draped on every couch, for all that we have and all that God is in our lives.
Eventually we sit down to eat the fabulous meal that we’ve all worked together to create. Thanksgiving is casual in our home. No pomp and circumstance. We eat on our regular dishes, with paper napkins. Because that is how we roll. I don’t ever want this time to be about being fancy. For us, it is about being real. Being who we are, thankful and loving, and being together. My favorite part is when we all hold hands and pray. Giving thanks for God’s goodness in our lives and that we get to spend another Thanksgiving together. And it’s just precious to have a whole holiday just for being thankful.
Unmastered 
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