Grace on Parade

Spreading the fragrance of God's grace everywhere

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Cancel Thanksgiving? Not a Chance! 5 New Ways to Celebrate

The only one happy about cancelling Thanksgiving would be the turkey.

Don’t you dare think you have to cancel Thanksgiving!

Yes, I know COVID cases are higher than ever. I know CDC and statewide guidelines are discouraging travel and gathering of extended family. Macy’s Parade isn’t happening this year. I don’t follow football, so I don’t know the score there. For crying out loud, Walmart isn’t even going to be open for pre-Christmas sales! How ever will we survive? Should we just cancel Thanksgiving and hope for a better year next year?

Not a chance! Just because it’s necessary to minimize the things we always do for Thanksgiving is no reason to cancel this very important holiday.

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Flying Into Love – A Book Review

Flying Into Love by Kathleen Rouser. A book review.

Perfectly Imperfect. What a great description for the characters of Flying Into Love.

It’s a windy and cold day in western Illinois. In fact, this year’s autumn has had an abundance of windy, cold days and I don’t care for wind. Wind makes me want to shelter at home, drink hot beverages, and read good books that make me forget about wind. What a perfectly imperfect time to pick up the sweet romance, Flying Into Love, by Kathleen Rouser.

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Anna’s Gift: What It Means to Give Your All

Anna's Gift

“What is the best gift you’ve ever received?”

A recent guest speaker posed the question to our church congregation.

“And no Sunday School answers,” he told us.

My mind whirled. Was it the large print Bible Preacher Creature gave me one Christmas? That sounded too much like a Sunday School answer. The beautiful music box a piano student gave me one year? Too materialistic. I searched my memory banks. Nothing was coming to mind. ‘

Then I remembered Anna’s gift and there was no better answer.

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Pumpkin Patch Theology: What I Saw Today in a Pumpkin

Pumpkin Patch Theology

“What did you see today?”

I asked that question as a group of women on retreat sipped coffee and munched donut holes. We sat at tables covered with autumn color tablecloths and mounded with pumpkins in various stages of ripeness. One lady had hauled dozens from her pumpkin patch to the retreat that morning from her stripped garden that came to an abrupt end with the threat of the first killing frost.

As the guest speaker at the retreat, my morning message was to be on seeing the nature of God through His creation. The retreat planners and I had scheduled an early morning nature walk as the first item on the morning’s agenda. We encouraged the women to either join a small group at a local park or sit outside for a few moments at their home before the retreat’s main session began so they could observe some part of nature. When we all arrived at the retreat center, we gathered in breakout groups to share our discoveries.

Surprise answer

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"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him."
- 2 Corinthians 2:14