OUT TO PASTOR: It was a gobble-gobble kind of day

I do not know about anybody else, but I truly enjoy Thanksgiving Day. It is not just because of the turkey that the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage prepares so brilliantly, although, I cannot think of any other reason.

Of course, there is the idea of family getting together. I enjoy that all the time. I like to hear the stories and get caught up with the latest happenings that have to do with my family.

I remember years ago good old Uncle Bud was my favorite uncle. He could tell a story that was so unbelievable that you ended up believing him.

Even today, I can remember some of the stories that he would tell and I could see now that he was exaggerating very well. I guess it’s in our family.

So, it is wonderful to get together with family and get up-to-date with all the happenings in our family.

However, when it comes to Thanksgiving, my focus is on the marvelous food. Everybody in the family is to bring their special dish to share with everybody else. Some are good at baking pies, some at doing vegetable dishes (although this year we were not allowed to use lettuce), some at casseroles and a host of other delicious delicacies.

Here’s what I like about a good old-fashioned family gathering at Thanksgiving. No matter what the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage says to me, I feel obligated to eat every dish brought in by a family member. After all, I surely do not want to embarrass anybody or shun them.

And, the best thing about this is, I need to have seconds and thirds and sometimes even more. After all, I do not want to offend anybody in my family.

I’m not sure, but I think everybody brought a pie. There were so many different pies on the table that I could not choose which one I wanted. Therefore, being the wonderful family person that I am, I took a slice of each.

My reasoning is simple, if it is a Thanksgiving dinner and the food is brought by family there absolutely no calories attached to it. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!

Although everything else was rather delicious, I must say that the turkey was magnificent. And, as you might know, my wife prepared that turkey.

She began the preparation for our Thanksgiving Day Turkey somewhere in August. There were some turkeys on sale and she scooped them up as much as possible. After all, she wanted to make sure she had enough turkey for everyone. And, according to her, it is against family rules to leave the family dinner without taking leftovers with you.

To prepare for this, the turkey had to be huge. That meant two and maybe even three turkeys to be prepared. It took her days to cook the turkey. Since I have no cookery imagination, I am not sure how she cooked it or how long it took her to cook it. All I know is, the kitchen smelled delicious for several weeks.

Please, do not let this get out. But she had one turkey that was done and she put it on the shelf to cool down a little bit before putting it in the freezer. I looked at it. I thought it looked back at me. I looked at it again and I got to the point of nonresistance. After all, why should I fight with the turkey?

Very carefully I sliced bits of turkey where I thought nobody would notice it and walked away munching on very delicious turkey. My problem was, the turkey was too delicious and I was too hungry. I went back several times and cut off just a little bit so nobody would notice. The nobody that I did not want to notice, of course, was my wife.

I happen to be chewing on a bit of turkey when the wife came into the room and asked the question she always asks me, “What are you eating?”

“Oh,” I said rather hesitatingly, “I’m just chewing on a little bit of meat I found in the refrigerator.” I thought that would solve the problem and for a while it looked like it did.

I just got seated in my chair when she, looking at the turkey, said, “Did you get a piece of this turkey to eat?”

When you’re found out, you're found out. And trust me, I was found out.

Not all the lying in the world could get me out of this predicament that I was in.

I thought I had come to the end. She had caught me with turkey in my mouth. I was sure I was in some deep trouble.

Then she said something that totally surprised me. “How was that turkey? Was it any good?”

I like to take advantage of situations so I said, “That was the best turkey I have ever tasted in my life.”

With a smile, she turned and walked away. How I got away with that, I am going to have to ponder for quite a few days.

As I pondered my situation, I thought of a verse in Proverbs. “A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!” (Proverbs 15:23).

I do not often say the right thing, but when I do, what a joy it is.

Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 1-866-552-2543 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net . His web site is www.jamessnyderministries.com .