10 Ways to Survive Thanksgiving

#1 Do not spike the turkey or your Aunt Margie when your favorite football team scores a touchdown.

#2 If you are hosting, make sure you have a minimum of two bathrooms available, both with the new, oversized plungers, not the old, little ones with the wooden handles. If you have no second bathroom, call 1-800-PORTA-POTTY and for $59.99 per day, your problem is solved.

#3 Do not criticize someone else’s dish and expect yours not to be criticized. And if the turkey is dry or tastes like the cardboard box surrounding McDonald’s McChicken, just grin and bear it. Or at least be ready to duck if you can’t keep your mouth shut.

#4 If someone passes out on the sofa from a turkey coma, they are fair game. Do to them as you will. If you are the one to pass out on your family member’s sofa because of your turkey coma, don’t whip your hand to your face to wipe the tickling you feel at the end your nose. Your nieces already covered your hand in the whipped cream set out for the pumpkin pies (and for you and your annual turkey coma).

#5 Understand you began to gain weight when you woke up, not when you started eating. It’s not even a question if you’ll gain weight, it’s a question of how much.

#6 Ask everyone to go around the table and share one thing they are thankful for. Don’t stop the round robin until everyone has gone and the whole table is out of things to say.

#7 Take a moment with your family and friends to read Psalm 100 together. It’s one of my favorite traditions, and one which means a lot of all of us. It was Thanksgiving 1978 and I was seven years old when I heard my family first read this passage together. I loved it so much I spent the rest of the morning memorizing all five verses, and still have them memorized to this very day.

#8 Refuse to be negative or gossip about family members who aren’t part of your Thanksgiving this year. If someone needs forgiveness, offer it freely and as soon as possible. If you need forgiveness, ask for it. Life is too short not to get this right.

#9 Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It’s something different than the normal fair and creates a fun tradition for people of all ages. The kids especially get a kick out of some of the floats!

#10 Grab a copy of my book “25 Days with Jesus” for $5.99 right here! We launch the Daily Devotional in just eight days!
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