Thanksgiving was just a few days away, and I was teaching one of my last workout classes before the holiday. We all knew we were going to eat way too much food and probably relax more than we should. Consequently, a good hard workout was on the menu, I mean, agenda.
During our workout, we all started sharing our Thanksgiving plans and dishes we would be serving or taking to our gatherings. I told them we would be joining my husband’s side that year, and I was carrying a vegetable tray. It traveled easier than a casserole. I explained how on my side, we always enjoyed a vegetable tray and other appetizers while preparing the main meal, but I had noticed, on his side, the tray was never touched.
When the workout ended, we were all hungry for our Thanksgiving meals yet grateful for a sweaty workout! One of my ladies walked up to me and asked if she could share something with me. I knew motherly advice was coming since I was like a daughter or granddaughter to most of these ladies. She leaned in and said, “Maybe no one eats what you bring because you are not bringing the right things. Why don’t you try taking something they would enjoy rather than something you would enjoy? Take something with some richness, like red velvet cake. If you want to build relationships, learn your audience.”
Most things that keep us apart are pride in our own vegetable trays; an unwillingness to bend to someone else’s ideas of tradition. Sometimes showing up with the wrong dish is just as bad as showing up with nothing at all.
I took her advice to heart and ordered the best red velvet cake in town. When we arrived for Thanksgiving, and the decadent sweets were laid out, a smile crept across my face as I watched my cake disappear slice by slice. Chuck slid in beside me and gave me a little squeeze as if it say, “Well done, babe.” Building relationships couldn’t have tasted sweeter.
This Thanksgiving, as we gather with our families and friends, there will be those we know well and those that we do not. Let’s choose to be a blessing, wash a dish, visit genuinely, serve someone whole-heartedly, but above all, don’t show up empty handed. Sometimes building relationships is better served with a slice of red velvet cake.
Welcome Home
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such, there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23
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Great job!!