Thanksgiving Compliments

My sister and her husband joined my son Ryan and me for Thanksgiving dinner today. I had cooked up a storm, of course, and we had quite a spread. In addition to the usual turkey and dressing, I had my favorite orange cranberry relish and pumpkin pie. I'm not much on casseroles, so we had a variety of vegetable dishes which, in retrospect, were actually pretty healthy (as far as holiday food goes).

Yesterday, I text'd the menu to my sister, proud of my culinary prowess. Her reply was not at all enthusiastic considering the magnificence of the menu. I was surprised. No "Yum".  No "Great!"in reply. It all sounded good to me. Who doesn't like roasted root vegetables? What's not to like about rutabagas?

We all ate more than we should today, as usual, and were sitting around the table enjoying the last crumbs of our pie. My brother-in-law looked at me and delivered a stunning compliment. "Well, 'Anna, I have to say this is the first time I've ever eaten at your house when I actually liked everything you cooked!" What??? I was shocked. Having put his foot in his mouth up to his knee, he tried to explain that I served weird food that he didn't recognize, cooked in ways that were unusual and unexpected. It was not that my food was not good, it was just strange. I was incredulous! What foods were weird? I wanted specifics. You may be as surprised as I was by his list. Kiwi, artichokes, avocados, and pumpkin pie. Apparently the creamed rutabagas and roasted parsnips today were also candidates for the weird list, but had gotten a pass because of their deliciousness. Joe went on to explain that the weirdness was mostly because the foods were unfamiliar. I had simply introduced him to something new, but perhaps a little too often. He has come to expect the unexpected (at least menu-wise) from me. 

That whole idea of introducing someone to something new reminds me of the disciple Andrew. He was good at introducing, too. He introduced his brother to Jesus and, later, introduced the boy with the loaves and fishes to Jesus.  Apparently Andrew kept his eyes open for people who needed to know The Messiah, and he didn't hesitate to introduce them. Andrew's kind of introducing seems a lot more important than mine, doesn't it?

As Thanksgiving winds down and we begin the Advent season, let's make an effort to be more like Andrew. Who do you know who needs Jesus? Now is a perfect time to introduce them.