"Please identify any items you left behind at Thanksgiving," the e-mail from our son who had hosted the family last week, read. Well, I didn't leave anything, I thought smugly as I pulled up the photo captioned, "Thanksgiving Lost and Found". Our detail-oriented offspring (he calls it OCD) had everything neatly arranged and evenly spread out on a black background for our convenience and/or surprise.
I recognized a striped hoodie shirt I had seen on my grandson, and a game cube his brother had been playing with non-stop. Other items--headbands, doll blanket, and small slippers could only have been left by the two little girls in our party. There were also a couple of pair of glasses--sunglasses and reading glasses--but they weren't mine. Then my eyes fell on a coiled, black item that looked familiar. My belt! The patent leather-looking one with the pretty square buckle! I hadn't even missed it!
What I had missed while I was there was a belt for a sweater I had brought. Getting dressed to go out, I reached for a coiled length of black grosgrain and put it around my waist, ready to close the buckle fastener, when I looked down to see I had a guitar strap in my hand! How could this happen? I distinctly remembered seeing my belt on my bed and putting it into the suitcase! I must have gotten the look-alike (except for a loop to go around the neck) strap by mistake! So I had to improvise with the belt I now see in the e-mail photo!
Another surprise we had on our adventure was when Jamie, the chef, pulled a show-stopper at dinner. He had placed all the beautiful side dishes on the Thanksgiving table, and set the nicely-done turkey in the center. "I never have figured out how to carve these things," he said as he held the knife poised over the breast of the tantalizing centerpiece. Then, to our amazement, he sliced completely through it crossways, slice after luscious slice, revealing the stuffing underneath.
"How did he do that?" someone gasped. Then I remembered seeing him debone the turkey that morning, leaving only wings and drumsticks intact. It had the desired effect of surprise on the guests.
We were surprised again when Grandma's voice emanated from the tape recorder he had set down in the middle of a game that night. What a poignant and sentimental experience that was as she told old family stories that had us laughing and crying at the same time.
Surprises may be delightful or alarming, but there is no reason for us to be surprised about our eternal destiny. If we have put on the full armor of God, including the helmet of salvation and the belt of Truth, we will not be left behind; we will be reunited with our saved loved ones at a beautiful supper in heaven, where we will all be wearing our wedding garment, without spot or wrinkle or wardrobe malfunction!
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