A Mother's Love: Thanksgiving Pancakes




A crisp November wind frosted the single pane window as a recently single mom sipped her coffee in a drafty Main Street apartment.   Sleeping peacefully snuggled in the warmth of layered blankets,  her three children were joyfully dreaming.  A tear dripped on her cheek as she sipped her coffee on Thanksgiving morning.

She bravely struck out on her own with her caring arms wrapped around her two daughters and a son.   A mother was making a life for herself and her children.  Waiting on the corner every morning for her ride,  she started working a demanding factory job to be the sole provider for her family.   Tired and sore after long grueling days,  she would smile and love her children.   Her burdens and worries hidden from the three happily playing kids who basked in the sunshine of motherly love.

A few more tears, dripped down her cheeks as her children started to stir in their beds on Thanksgiving morning.  Her first paycheck was still a week away.  The resources to provide a Thanksgiving feast of turkey, mash potatoes and pumpkin pie were not to be found in the purse of recently single mom.   She was on her own.

Little did she know that on this Thanksgiving morning she was about to provide for her children with the most meaningful of Thanksgiving days.   Waking up and wiping the sleep from their eyes, her children were greeted by a joyful motherly voice wishing them a happy Thanksgiving.  Her voice masking the burdens that she kept hidden behind her smile.   Her children would learn that Thanksgiving is not about turkey and pie.

The drafty apartment warmed and sunlight sparkled on frosted windows as her children giggled and eagerly awaited their Thanksgiving meal.   The mom cracked the eggs and stirred the batter as her children smiled.   The wispy smell of pancakes carried love through the air.

Thanksgiving was celebrated in an old apartment on Main Street as three little children and a loving mom gave thanks for the grace of God as they shared a meal of warm pancakes and maple syrup.  A mother's love conquered life’s burdens.   A mother taught her children that Thanksgiving is not about the abundance of the feast.   Thanksgiving is about the overabundance of love, family, and the thankfulness for the grace of the Lord.

Note:  To this day,  my wife and her mom share a loving bond.   My wife loves pancakes.

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