Far From Home on Thanksgiving Day

Far From Home on Thanksgiving Day
The most remarkable and true Thanksgiving Day of my life came unexpectedly. It entered my heart and mind in a strange new place from home, children, brothers, mother, and turkey.
About five weeks before that most remarkable and true Thanksgiving Day, I had joined my husband at the beginning of what would become ten years living in Geneva, Switzerland. Thanksgiving was our first holiday far from home that first year of ten.
We had coffee together that morning, and talked for a short while before my husband left for work like every other working person in Switzerland that day. Offices were open, of course, and routines hummed along. There was a small contingent of Americans. They seemed well-adjusted being foreigners there, and I had not gotten to know any of them well.
Looking through large windows onto a beautifully kept garden, I could see a gray November Thursday. In our beautiful apartment, empty of everything but decorated rooms and me, I decided to return to bed.
Aches of aloneness and longing to be somewhere else ran in fierce circles around my heart. Turning inside my head were images of our children, young grandson, and other family around a Thanksgiving table in the hours ahead. They had not yet waked up yet, awaked, in America, but they would get up to a holiday, together. Selfishly, I did not think of how it was also different for them, because we were far away. I could only think of my longings for home. I could not yet imagine their longings for us.
The day, therefore, seemed cruelly empty and odd. It was Thanksgiving Day, and I should feel happy. I could not feel happy, for in another sense, it was not Thanksgiving Day.
I returned to bed and got under the covers.
Rather than continue gazing at the ceiling. I made a move, reaching for my Bible on the table next to me. I turned to the Psalms, where I knew there were words to pour out my feelings. I needed the words to express the inexpressible feelings of displacement that frightened me.
Who else is there who can understand and bear all our feelings, except God? The scriptures tell us that Jesus Christ is "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" (Hebrews 13:8). In a changing life in a changing world, there is constancy with Him.
I noted the date and "Thanksgiving Day" in pencil along the margins of many psalms* of praise. For example:
"O God my Strength! I will sing your praises, for you are
my place of safety" (Psalm 59).
"For wherever I am, though far away at the ends of the
earth, I will cry to you for help...For you are my refuge, a high tower" (Psalm 61).
"I lie awake at night thinking of you-of how much you
have helped me-and how I rejoice through the night beneath
the protecting shadow of your wings. I follow close
behind you, protected by your strong right arm" (Psalm 63).
"O God who saves us. You are the only hope of all mankind
throughout the world and far away upon the sea..." (Psalm 65:5).
"Let everyone bless You, O God, and sing Your praises, for You hold our lives in
Your hands. And You hold our feet to the path" (Psalm 66:8).
I read aloud, and the more I read the more tears of relief flowed, and I enjoyed, in a new way, the first of many thanksgivings on hard days over the next ten years and during wonderful surprises in them, too.
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen (Hebrews 13:20, 21).
*Scriptures are from the Living Bible translation.
Jane Bullard is an American writer whose articles on marriage, family, refugees, politics, government, and writing have appeared in print and Internet publications. Highland Books LTD published her first book, "Not All Roads Lead Home" in 1996 for UK distribution. Opine Publishing LLC issued the US edition in 2004. Jane Bullard wrote the Foreword for "The Mourner's Comforter" by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, 2007. Both books are available at http://www.OpineBooks.com, Barnes & Noble online, and Amazon.com. Jane has edited many books, among them "Exhausted Rapunzel."