In 1985, Scott Macaulay was 24 years old. His parents had just gotten a divorce. The adjustment was hard enough in and of itself, but it became more pronounced as Thanksgiving rolled around. “What’s going to happen at Thanksgiving? … I just did not like the thought of being home alone — or anywhere alone — on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is not about gifts or fireworks or hoopla. It’s a meal around a table where you give thanks for the blessings you have, and you really can’t do that by yourself and have much fun.”
So Scott found a creative way to fill his home and his life with gratitude. “I decided to put an ad in the local paper: If people thought they would find themselves alone, they could give me a call, and I would make a Thanksgiving dinner.”
That first year, only a few people showed up. But Macaulay was committed to the thanksgathering . “I’ve held the dinner every year since. Last Thanksgiving, 84 people showed up.” This year (2014) he celebrates his 29th Thanksgiving meal.
For Macaulay, says writer Dave Isay, “There’s always room at his table.” [1]
The Lord longs to gather everyone to His table of thanksgiving, so He sends us out to invite the whole world to come, not for a day, but for an eternity. There is always room at HIS table!
“So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full’ ” (Luke 14:23, NLT).
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1. Adapted from “Ties That Bind” by Dave Isay. Also published in Reader’s Digest magazine, November 2013