As plain as the face on my nose

Am I right? We all knew the face of the lunch lady who dutifully served warm nutritious meals day after day that fueled our young minds to learn, grow, and be all that we could be.

Yeah right, who am I kidding? She was the keeper of pizza and chocolate milk on Fridays, the Turkey gravy with mashed potatoes on Tuesday, and if you forgot lunch money, she had the emergency lunch that consisted of a peanut butter sandwich and a carton of plain milk. Do you remember those yummy chocolate cookie type things you sometimes got called fudge gems? Those were the best!

To me eating a school lunch wasn't a sign of my mom's neglect to pack a lunch. School lunch was always a special treat. I always felt so smug and superior as I was eating my fish and fries while the others at my table had a cold sandwich and some carrots.

Every year when I sit down to an amazing Thanksgiving dinner my mind always wanders back to those hard plastic trays with the compartments that kept your corn from touching your gingersnap cookie; your apples slices and milk happily segregated. As I mix my turkey and gravy, stuffing and corn together and put it on top of my mashed potatoes, I remember how that first bite tasted while I was sitting at the awkward lunch tables. So creamy and delicious!

All of this leads me to think about when I might host the family Thanksgiving meal at my house. It's a great responsibility to host such an important event. It requires planning ahead, purchasing the best food, and preparing your home. My mom always seems to do it with such grace. Sure, there have been the rare occasions that something goes awry and frazzles her nerves, but by-and-large she can pull of a meal of epic proportions without even breaking a sweat.

Me? I'm not sure I could do the same.

But my point is this: every part of the meal had to be planned for. This big, beautiful, delicious meal doesn't just happen to fall onto the table from no where, no. You purchase special ingredient, take extra time, use a secret family recipe, bring out Grandma's china plates. Cooking the meal itself takes hours upon hours to get everything just right. Why do we go to such trouble? Because it's special, it's significant, it will be a time when family memories are made and passed down.

And then it hit me; right there in front of me. That is what this season of my life is. It's a time of preparation, of planning, of gathering just the right ingredients and mixing them in the proper way. Of setting the oven to the right temperature, and using the special table linens. If my life is going to be the delicious, memorable meal I want it to be, it's going to take time to get everything just right. And only after all of the hard work has been done will the guests arrive and take their place at my table all the while making memories that will be passed down.