Thanksmas 2021

If you think my dishwasher is full, you should see my heart. 

The KCU soccer family celebrated Thanksmas at my house Sunday, scheduled for 5-? The menu included chili, chicken noodle soup, and the fixings for those dishes, with sugar cookies to decorate and eat, along with pumpkin, pecan or chocolate pie. I wish I could have taken a picture of everyone together, but it was a fluid crowd and after the initial few photos I took I got caught up in living and celebrating.

You won't get the full effect from these pictures, but you can use your imagination. Every single one of those bowls in my dishwasher-thirtyish- was used by someone I know and love. (And that wasn't all of the dishes used! One person washed every single overflow dish as well as the pots and  serving utensils, another dried and a third put them away so I would rest after they left rather than work. I also heard, more than once throughout the evening, "mom, is there anything else you need help with?". The card table was stored, the dining room table returned to its normal size, coffee pot and electric kettle put away, basically, my house in back in order, without me needing to do anything to make that happen except give directions.)

At one point, my kitchen was full...

my couches and new card table were full

and my dining room table that extends to ten feet was full of my favorite thing in this world-people I love.

Thanksmas, if you aren't familiar with the word, is a combination of Thanksgiving and Christmas. A shared meal is part of what happens when family gathers for a holiday. The pies represented Thanksgiving and the sugar cookies Christmas. Each team wanted to fill a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child. They are so generous we are going to need to get a few more boxes because what they brought won't all fit in the two we provided.

I took advantage of free, available and willing labor and asked a couple of boys to pull my Christmas stuff from the closets. They put my tree together and figured out how the lights connect. In their maneuvering we discovered that it rotates! One replaced the battery in a remote I found and taught me how to use it. No more messing with a switch or a plug. Several of the guys and girls put the ornaments on it. When I was done sorting through the five or six totes I have and choosing what I am going to use this year they put them back in their assigned storage area. 

The best thing about Thanksmas? The people that filled my home. Some came early. Some stayed late, lingering over conversation and shared memories. Some were here a short time, some wanted to stay longer, but they are student athletes and homework was calling.

I received two beautiful gifts and cards, but the best gift I received is one I can't capture in a photo, and you could never see it with your eyes, but you might feel it if you were here. Love. Love for one another, and more importantly, love for Jesus. I am so thankful I get to be part of these people's lives.

*I am well aware that they are not babies. They are young adults. But they are kids and I love them, so in my mind that makes them my soccer babies. I promise, any mom or dad who may read this, I am not trying to take your place, and I am truly grateful you share your child with me. It is a privilege and blessing to know them. I have six birthed children plus their spouses and several other young people in my life that are my babies too.