Tis the season.

It's that time of the year, time for everyone to eat a few huge dinners, take lots of naps, throw snowballs at each other, give/get some gifts, all that jazz that Jesus was born for, ya know? This is also a time of year when a lot of people don't have much to do, money to spend, or a friend to share a meal with. This is a sad time of the year for many.

Last year at this time I was still living in Nashville, TN and working at a electronic store, which means that getting time off for Thanksgiving to go home and see my family was out of the question. This wasn't a huge issue for me really, as I don't hold Thanksgiving up to be that special of a day, but as turkey day grew closer, I realized that I was going to be the only one in my house home then, and pretty much all of my other friends were going out of town for the week. The day before Thanksgiving, I was off work, heading to see a concert in Atlanta with my friend Justin, one of the few who was actually staying around, because his family was all meeting in Murfreesboro, TN [just outside of Nashville]. As we were heading out to the concert he asked what my plans were for the next day, I told him, I was going to catch up on some sleep, prepare for Black Friday and maybe play some music or something of that sort. He told me to come and share the meal with his family instead. I'm normally pretty hesitant with this sort of thing. Not that I don't like to meet new people or anything like that, I like hanging out and having a good time and all that stuff, but this was a family thing, this was not just Justin, not just his sister, but his mom, dad, grandparents, aunts, uncles....it was everyone. I'm usually so intimidated by the possibility of awkward conversations with family members of friends who I don't know that want to know who I am, what I do, what's going on in school, all that stuff, but for some reason I told him that I'd love to. The next day was not at all what was expected. There was laughter and handshakes and great food and so many awesome things. It was such a good time, and I could just feel the love from the Sauer family that day, opening up households and hearts so that I could share a good meal with them.

Just remember, that there are a lot of people who may need you this time of the year, as well as the rest of the year, and they might be closer to you than you think.