A Thanksgiving Story for Mother's Day

The story below is an excerpt from my new book, Where's God? Finding Him in the Small Stuff, which tells about the time I thought I would miss my first Thanksgiving with my Mom...until I decided I just couldn't stay away, and found a way back home.  I dedicate it to Ann Lawrence (my Mom's maiden name) and to everyone who has wonderful memories of their own moms as Mother's Day approaches.


It was a cold and stormy night.

A Wednesday night, to be exact...the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, in 1980.

It was my first BIG HOLIDAY away from home after graduating from college and I had BIG PLANS. 

Secret plans.

I would drive all the way to West Virginia from Indianapolis after I finished working at the Indiana Pacers game that night.  I had rented a car because I didn't trust my 1976 Vega station wagon to make the trip without breaking down. 

I would drive all night, overnight, so I could be home for Thanksgiving.

No one knew I was coming.  It would be a surprise for everyone, especially for my Mom.

You see, I had never missed a Thanksgiving with her.  Not once.  In all of my 22 years, Mom and I had always been together for Thanksgiving.

At first, I had told myself how silly it was to make the trip at all.  I was, after all, a grown man.  I had a fulltime job.  It was just Thanksgiving.  What difference would it make if I didn't get home that year?  So what if I wouldn't see my Mom, just this once.

There would be other holidays.  There would be other Thanksgivings.

It was too far to drive so late at night anyway.  I would be too tired.  It might even be dangerous.

I would be fine staying at my apartment, by myself. 

But, the more I thought about it, the more homesick I got.  Not that my Mom was a great cook, exactly.  I mean, she could cook a good meal, don't get me wrong.  But, for my Mom, cooking was more of a "hit and miss" proposition.

There were times when the Thanksgiving turkey just melted in your mouth.  But there were other times when the bottoms of the rolls were burned, or the mashed potatoes were a little stiff, or the pumpkin pie was still a bit frozen because she hadn't taken the box out of the freezer early enough to thaw. 

You never knew, from one year to the next, which food would hit the table.

Of course, it didn't matter.  I wasn't going home for the food.  I was going home to be with my family.  I was going home to be with my Mom.

So, sometime around midnight on that Wednesday night in 1980, I headed home.  It really was a cold and stormy night.

I was fine for an hour or two.  But eventually, there was no way I could keep my eyes open.  I had to pull over and take a nap.

I slept as well possible while sitting up behind the steering wheel.  That is, until the car got too cold.  Freezing, I started the car, turned on the heat and let it run until the air warmed up again.  Then, I turned off the engine and fell back to sleep.

That pattern repeated itself more than once that night.  Drive.  Stop.  Sleep.  Freeze.  Run the car.  Sleep.  Repeat.

Finally, sometime around the middle of the morning on Thanksgiving day, I pulled into the driveway at Mom's house.

She was in the kitchen when I got there.

She saw me drive up.  It was then that the most unusual thing happened.  Something that I had not expected.

For some reason, she did not seem surprised to see me.  She was happy that I made it home, of course, but she did not seem surprised at all.

It was almost as if she had expected me to be there.

As I look back on it now, I think I know why.  This was my home.  This was my family.  This was where I belonged.  This was the only place in the whole world where I could find a special kind of love...the love of my Mom.  Unconditional love.

The kind of love that says, "I love you just because you are my child."

I think Mom knew that I could not stay away, because that kind of love is too precious to miss.

Someday, there is going to be a great Thanksgiving meal in the presence of Jesus.  Actually, in the Bible, it is called a "wedding supper," but it is basically the same thing.

"Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder shouting:  'Hallelujah!  For our Lord God Almighty reigns.  Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!  For the wedding of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready.  Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear'...Then the angel said to me, 'Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb.'"  (Revelation 19:6-9)

Do you want to be invited?  You have been already.  You were invited the very day that Jesus died on the cross for you.

If you want to be there, you do not have to drive for hours and hours on a cold and stormy night.  All you have to do is accept Jesus as your Savior. 

What waits for you is a wonderful time of precious, unconditional love, because you have "come home" through faith in Jesus Christ.  What waits for you is a love from God that says, "I love you just because you are my child."

Where else would you rather be?

For more information about my book, or to hear an audio excerpt from a different story, visit the following website: www.gregmccollam.com  Books are available from amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com, or at local bookstores (if the book is out of stock, they can order it for you) in hardback or paperback versions.