Did you guys hear about this?

Woman's Craigslist Offer Solicits Full Thanksgiving Table

32 Strangers To Gather At Whites' House

LITTLETON, Colo. -- This time last year, Monique White was living in a tiny motel room and looking for work, pining for the Thanksgivings of her childhood when dozens gathered for the holiday feast.

On Thursday, White will fulfill her holiday wish. She has a home and a job, and thanks to an impromptu Craigslist posting, 32 strangers are gathering at her house to share a banquet of six turkeys, four hams, 16 boxes of stuffing and a dozen or so pies.

White, 36, posted a two-sentence invitation on the Internet classifieds site last week.

"So I got on Craigslist, and posted -- three or four people, we have room for you, give us a call. And they did, 32 of them," White said.

White, a receptionist at a dentist's office, was feeling a little lonely with her two sons spending the holiday with their dad. So she figured maybe four or five strangers would reply to her ad and join her and her husband, Doug White, at their Littleton home for Thanksgiving dinner.

Instead, dozens replied. People laid off work. People with no family. People ashamed to bring their children to a charity Thanksgiving dinner at a soup kitchen. Single mothers with kids, and an elderly couple.

"I thought there was no way I could judge who is worthy of sitting at my table. I have to invite them all," White said, sitting at her dining room table as she went over some of the e-mails.

One of them read, "My 5-year-old son and I would like to come celebrate Thanksgiving and we have no family here so I would appreciate it if you have time for us."

So all 32 people who responded are coming over for Thanksgiving dinner. White's boss heard what she was doing and said he'd pay for the food. A local hotel is bringing over tables and chairs. A professional magician in the area replied and offered to come perform for the kids. National media outlets including ABC's Good Morning America have shuffled through the Whites' modest town house writing and filming the story about her unusual offer.

It's a far cry from last year, when the Whites were living in a motel room. They had a long-haul trucking business that had gone out of business. Doug White was working construction; Monique White was still looking. Their holiday got worse when the window in their motel room caved in after a heavy snow, leaving them with little to give thanks for but a soggy mess.

"Last year it was just us two. It was horrible," she said. "I feel very fortunate getting out of that situation. We wanted to pay back.

"Things have turned around. Both are now working, and they've bought the town house. With the economy as it is, the Whites say they're barely making ends meet. But they feel compelled to share what they do have with others.

"That's what Thanksgiving is about: Helping other people out however you can," Doug White said. He's had little time to contemplate the meaning of Monique's craigslist gesture. He was busy making the first turkeys, putting one in the oven as soon as another came out. But there's truly plenty to give thanks for over the past year. "Looking back then to now, it's night and day," Doug White said. "People need to stop being so worried about me, me, me, my bills, my life. You stop worrying, and look what happens?"

"This is ordinary people doing a little something extra; making it an extraordinary thin," said Doug. "But everybody is ordinary. So what is the harm of doing something extra?"

"This will be the most memorable Thanksgiving I've ever had in my entire life," Monique said.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/18151810/detail.html#-

How I Make Turkey for Thanksgiving

First, you thaw it.

Then you brine it.

Then you roast it.

and I like making a fancy stuffing, cranberry sauce from scratch and multigrain loaf from scratch. Yum. This year, I'm making an apple pie too.

Yum.

A Season of Giving

I love love love to give people gifts. I love to find things that remind me of someone and bring them joy in a tangible way. But, like everyone else, I'm burdened by the economy -- the world economy, my economy, the lack of economy in others.

The other day, I was thinking about making eye pillows or neck warmers as gifts. These are simple crafts where you sew a small bag, fill it with rice, and seal it. I thought I could just pick up one of those huge bags of rice from Costco and it'd be a relatively inexpensive gift. And then I started thinking about the prosperity of America, that we can buy rice to make little crafts. We can buy beans for our kids to play in or make tambourines with paper plates.

Is this a new chapter in maturity? Is this a place that all people (esp parents) eventually reach so that they can nag their kids to finish their dinner?

I want to return to simplicity (was I ever there?). I read an article once that suggested that you follow the example of the gifts Jesus received from the Wise Men (this isn't the article, but it's the same concept)(oh wait, I found it).

I'm amazed at the sense of privilege my kids have. They think they don't have to work hard for anything and that when they're bored, it's my job to entertain them or that we should drive to the toy store and buy a new toy (please don't think I give into these demands. I don't). Brian and I try very hard to encourage independence, responsibility, respect and other wonderful character traits that we catch glimpses of from time to time in our boys. I'm just so surprised by how much of a battle it is! Charlie asked if a magazine came in the paper that he could use to make his Christmas list like he did last year. That really brought it all home to me. I suggested that he make a list of gifts that he would like instead of flipping through a catalog that would plant ideas in his head.

Creativity is a lot harder to foster than I thought.

So, here's a picture of my son Isaac doing what boys should do with presents:

Thank Goodness That's Over

I voted for McCain. I wasn't crazy about him as a candidate and I didn't really think he would win. I don't know how Obama couldn't win with the media love-fest and the money that drips from his pores. It'll be a really exciting 4 years with Obama as president, and even though I could not vote for him (because I think he's as slick as a salesman and because I can't trust him and because I think he'll say whatever you want to hear...), I'm really interested in how he is planning on "changing" everything.
I've recently been reading through Randy Alcorn's book Heaven, which has really changed my outlook on my faith. It's refreshing and freeing to be secure in my belief that Jesus is the son of God and that his death on the cross gives me a relationship with the Almighty God. To know that I will be a part of the New Heaven and the New Earth and that the time I spend now is going to be as close to Hell as I will ever get.
So when I read scare tactics like the "letter" Focus on the Family wrote to make Obama seem like the most evil man on the earth, I just remind myself that, yeah, we know our world is going to get worse. It doesn't matter who's in charge because God appointed him anyway. We know that things are going to spiral into chaos and we know that Jesus will come on a white horse and rescue his bride when it's time to end this time.
All that to say, I will honor Obama as my president, but I will first serve the one and only true God.

Ah, it must be fall

We had a delightful Halloween. It was a Norman Rockwell sort of a night with little crowds of kids running from house to house shouting "Trick or Treat!" The weather was perfect -- probably mid-60s, just beautiful.
Charlie was Indiana Jones and Isaac was a yellow and brown bird.