It’s Kristen, and I’m honored to have the chance to wish you a blessed Thanksgiving on the day before Thanksgiving. My little family will be driving to spend the holiday with my parents, brothers, and their families. It’s going to be loud, chaotic, and so much fun.
It’s going to be the kind of Thanksgiving my character Avery Reynolds in Watch Your Back has never experienced.
After her parents walked out of her life when she was seven, she grew up in foster care until she aged out of the system. But one foster family deeply impacted her. Foster “Mama Casale” once told her, “You can be anything you want to be.” Eleven-year-old Avery believed her, but thirty-one-year-old Avery doubts if she should have.
Now a private investigator on a mission to avenge her foster brother Anthony Casale’s death, Avery hits wall after wall in the case to track down the Tampa mob boss responsible. Coast Guard veteran Ethan Bridger becomes her unlikely ally. When he invites her to join his family for Thanksgiving dinner, the question lets loose a torrent of emotions in this hardened private investigator.
Does she agree to go? You’ll have to read the story to find out. This is a spoiler-free zone. 😉
Seriously, though, Avery’s story reminds me that not everyone has the chance to spend Thanksgiving with family, due to distance or life circumstances. That’s why tonight, we invited some friends to our church’s pre-Thanksgiving dinner. I hope they come and see that they’re not alone in what they’re going through.
If you feel alone this time of year, please don’t isolate. Find community. Maybe it means a pre-Thanksgiving celebration or volunteering somewhere to bless others. Maybe it means picking up the phone to call someone. Maybe it means opening your Bible to read God’s love letter to you.
Wherever this holiday finds you, I want to pray for you. Please put your name in the blanks below and know you are seen and loved by the most generous God, who is our Creator, Savior, and Father.
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for Thanksgiving, which reminds us of all the ways You have lavished Your love and goodness on us. For those traveling, keep them safe. For those hurting, be near to them. For those overflowing with joy, remind them that You are the source. For _________ today, You see and know his/her heart, needs, and longings. Draw _____ closer to You this Thanksgiving and fill _______ with Your love, peace, joy, and hope. Amen.
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