An Untraditional Thanksgiving

00:02
Rich Rudowske
That heart of saying I’ve been given something. I have what I need. And I want to say thanks is really beautiful. Welcome to the centrally translatable podcast brought to you by Lutheran Bible Translators. I’m Rich Rudowske. 

00:24
Emily Wilson
And I’m Emily Wilson. 

00:25
Rich Rudowske
Something and it is that time of year. 

00:28
Emily Wilson
Time to eat. 

00:29
Rich Rudowske
Time to eat. Yes, it’s November here. I was going to say getting cold, although this particular day, it’s nice and warm outside, but yeah, I was outside yesterday. Of course, here in the midwest, it gets dark ridiculously early now, but before it gets dark, there’s that. Hardly any leaves on the tree, faded pink sky with the sun going down the skyline. It reminds me of when I was a kid watching Charlie Brown. Thanksgiving. That’s how they draw the scenery there. And anyways, that’s like our experience right now here in the midwest. So that time of year when it’s getting cold. But here in the United States, we have the Thanksgiving holiday. And so to celebrate that, because in America, for the Thanksgiving holiday has a lot to do with food, we wanted to talk a little bit about food and festivals. 

01:17
Rich Rudowske
So tell the folks what we’re in store for you. 

01:20
Emily Wilson
So our Christmas episode, we shared Christmas stories, Easter stories. We’re like, okay, thanksgiving is a very american holiday. I guess we do actually have a canadian story in there because Canadians also celebrate thanksgiving, just not in November. 

01:38
Rich Rudowske
Correct. 

01:38
Emily Wilson
Yeah, but we. We got to give a little salute, a little nod to our northern friendly neighbors and the global audience. 

01:49
Rich Rudowske
I mean, many countries have Thanksgiving holidays exactly. Different times of the year. 

01:53
Emily Wilson
Exactly. So food and festivals, not always Thanksgiving, but just celebrating. Hey, we’re all getting together, and there is a lot of fellowship that happens over food. It’s almost like, is it fellowship if you don’t have food? It’s a question. 

02:08
Rich Rudowske
It’s a question. Yeah, I know that. That’s how I got where I am in life right now. There was a lot of food involved, for better or worse. All right, well, who’s up first? 

02:22
Emily Wilson
All right, so we want to share with you a story from Rhoda Hoag in her early days in Liberia, and she’s got a really great story. So a little bit about food prep and expectations maybe not being met. So enjoy. 

02:44
Rhoda Hoag
Well, hi, everybody. We were in Liberia back in the think this was in 1985. It was our second thanksgiving in Liberia, and were going to be in the city. We had a village home, but were going to be in the capital city of Monrovia for thanksgiving. And some other missionaries told us that they found a man who was selling turkeys, he raised them and he was selling them. And this was not a real common thing. We’re mostly used to sort of guinea fowl running around or chickens that didn’t always look so great either. So I didn’t have high hopes for this, but a turkey, it’s Thanksgiving, so we put in our order for one. And I didn’t even think to say how big or anything because I just didn’t think they’d be that big. 

03:37
Rhoda Hoag
Well, the day he showed up, I guess the day before thanksgiving, with these turkeys, which were thankfully defeathered and ready for the oven. And I was a bit shocked at the size. These guys were like 25 to 30 pounds. They were huge. Just huge. And I wasn’t alone in that. We got to talking to each other ladies. And there was one lady who wisely had ordered a smaller turkey. And the price was pretty high, too. I can’t remember what turkeys were going for, like, in the states at that time, but I know these were like a couple of dollars a pound. And so they got pretty pricey. And then the other problem was that they just didn’t fit in our little stove. We had one of those with the four burners that are all next to each other, just like a small stove. 

04:33
Rhoda Hoag
So the oven was small. And I didn’t have a pan that big either. So someone helped us cut the turkey in half. A lot of the other ladies did that as well. So I cooked half a turkey at the time. At a time. And we just had a lot of turkey that year. And nobody wanted us to really share it with them either because they had a lot of turkey. Anyway, it made for a fun memory and just kind of enjoyable in its own way and fun. Thanks. 

05:10
Rich Rudowske
Okay. Yeah, that just reminds me, the almost universal story when you live overseas or cross culturally, is like, you can’t take anything for granted. So all the assumptions you might make about what size it’s going to be, how much it’s going to cost, like, if you don’t think to ask, because it just seems so automatic. 

05:29
Emily Wilson
Do nothing. 

05:30
Rich Rudowske
Get what you’re going to get. Yeah. 

05:32
Emily Wilson
I love how Rhoda just paints this picture and it’s like, I can imagine, what are we going to do with this? I know it probably wasn’t that, but I just imagine someone getting out a saw. 

05:47
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. I’m trying to figure out what a half a cooked turkey looks like. Are we talking like just down the center of the press? It’s like one wing and one drumstick or is it like front to back? 

05:57
Emily Wilson
And then it’s like no one wanted. That is unheard of. It’s always like, oh, man, want that turkey? But, oh, yeah, everyone had accent. 

06:09
Rich Rudowske
The children of Israel had too much mana or too much quail. 

06:12
Emily Wilson
There you go. 

06:13
Rich Rudowske
Anyways, that’s great. I love that story. Yeah, so good. 

06:16
Emily Wilson
So the next story is from the kaisers and a little like two different kinds of scenarios. So Jim’s story for us, really sharing about his experience in Sierra Leone, and Susan also backs it up with their experiences in Ethiopia and in Sierra Leone. There wasn’t really a time to celebrate Thanksgiving. So he shared about other holidays in Sierra Leone and how they were able to celebrate with their community. So take a listen. 

06:54
Jim Kaiser
When we lived in the village in Sierra Leone, and there the church would sometimes get together for Easter or Christmas and have a celebration out in the bush a bit. And they would collect money from everyone who wanted to come ahead of time. And then they would buy maybe a goat and a bunch of rice, and they would get together a bunch of big pots, and they would take those out to the location that morning and would start cooking these huge pots of food, and people would gather and there’d be a big feast and sitting out there and enjoying time together and the food. On other occasions, we would have people come to our house and we would serve them to a meal that were having. 

07:44
Jim Kaiser
And we soon found out that there are different customs about how you go about serving food to people. When we would have folks to our house, we started out by doing what we would do in America, and we would take a platter full of whatever food and pass it around for each person to help themselves as the plate went around the table. But we found out that didn’t work well in Sierra Leone. In Sierra Leone, the custom was that if you gave somebody a plate full of something that was meant to be his food, and he would keep that and expect that was what he was supposed to eat. So we very quickly learned that we had to adapt. 

08:27
Jim Kaiser
And when you wanted to give someone food, that you needed to put it on the plate first and then give him his plate with what you wanted him to eat from on there. 

08:36
Susan Kaiser
In Ethiopia, there were a couple of families that we would often get together, and if were going to celebrate something like thanksgiving, we would decide ahead of time who was going to provide what. And then we get together on that day and enjoy the meal together. We might play games together, or we might just sit and talk, and kids would enjoy being together. And very quickly these families would become like our family, just because we get to know them and we celebrate those holidays together. We don’t have our own family there, so that quickly becomes your own family. Another thing that happened occasionally, especially if we would be in the capital city, would be that the american embassy would invite Americans to come and celebrate the holiday together there. 

09:37
Susan Kaiser
And usually the embassy itself would provide perhaps the meat, and then the rest of us would all bring something. So it was kind of like a potluck. And there would usually also be games that they planned. Like if it was Easter, they might have an Easter egg hunt or that kind of thing. So that we would have a time of special american type fellowship. 

10:07
Emily Wilson
So Jim’s story about family style serving not being universal kind of reminds me of a time that here when were having a mission exploration event, where people were introduced to different dining styles and it was just kind of, hey, it’s not universal, it’s not good or bad, it’s just different. But that awkwardness that can happen as you’re, oh no, you passed it. 

10:38
Rich Rudowske
I’m just imagining these folks that the Kaisers had over as like they go back home and it’s like, it was the weirdest thing, man. All I got to eat was potatoes. They gave all the potatoes to me and this guy got them. 

10:54
Emily Wilson
Yeah. 

10:54
Rich Rudowske
Made for good conversations for others as. 

10:58
Emily Wilson
Yeah. And then how Susan really captured when you’re away from your like that time together, know, being able to play games and have food and celebrating a holiday that is not necessarily celebrated in the country where you are residing, it’s really impactful to be able to gather together and it’s like, well, what do we have in common? We’re maybe different professions coming from different parts of the US, different backgrounds, but hey, we’re going to be family for the day. 

11:32
Rich Rudowske
It’s really true. It’s really great. Coming up next is Chris and Janine Pluger. If you’ve listened to the podcast before, now, this was what you were waiting for. The great storytellers, Chris and Janine, with their stories of food and festivals. 

11:46
Emily Wilson
Yeah, in Zambia and yeah, the different flavors and some unwanted guests appear in Janine’s story. So take a listen. 

12:01
Janine Pluger
So, despite being missionaries now, when I grew up, before I met and married Chris, I had been born and raised in the same house my entire life. So our very first year on the field, holiday traditions were a big thing. I had never been away from home around the holidays and so it was a hard thing. But what I remember distinctly was having a Thanksgiving dinner with the WELS missionaries in Zambia. And I walked into the missionary guest house there and Sharon Hartman had decorated for Thanksgiving. And it was just almost like walking into home. 

12:40
Janine Pluger
She had done such a nice, was just, it was a relief to, you know, even though I’m so far away from home and away from my family, I could see that you can still keep and carry your traditions with you and you can just celebrate them with other people, with new people. And that was such a blessing to me, being away from home for the first time like that over a holiday season. Another story, which was another time with the missionaries. Instead of celebrating inside, we had a nice al fresco Thanksgiving dinner, which you can do in the middle of Zambia in November. Except the thing about Zambia is that November is the beginning of the rainy season. And with the rainy season you also get the insua, which are flying termites. 

13:27
Janine Pluger
And it just so happened that the night of our Thanksgiving dinner was Insua night. And so we had started dinner and were eating and it was wonderful. And as it was getting dark, the lights came on outside the security lights and up came the insua and we’re talking swarms and swarms of tiny termites flying all over the place. And they covered all of our food and they covered all the lights. And that was another memorable, but much less enjoyable Thanksgiving for me. 

14:00
Chris Pluger
The one thanksgiving that I definitely remember. We were out in Petauque. So it must not have been the first thanksgiving. It must have been the second. So Sean would have been about ten years old. And I’m not sure how well formed Sean’s sense of traditions were. I’m not sure what really meant a lot to Sean, especially around the Thanksgiving holiday, because we always look forward to Christmas. But thanksgiving was just kind of a thing. And so we had discussed that we’re not going to have a turkey for Thanksgiving because turkeys cost like $65 and they’re really small and who knows how many times they’ve been frozen and thawed. 

14:31
Chris Pluger
But Sean’s special request, so we had the chicken, fruit for lunch, but Sean’s special request was for Thanksgiving dinner, for the supper of thanksgiving was to do what they did on the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving show, which was to have the Charlie Brown Snoopy Thanksgiving, quote unquote, dinner, which is, let me get this right, jelly beans, pretzel sticks, popcorn and toast. So Sean helped us make that. And it was 85, 95 degrees. We were sweating, but were eating our toast and our jelly beans and just enjoying a nice Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. And then, of course, we watched the show, so that was fun, too. But yeah, that was thanksgiving on the field in Zambia. 

15:18
Emily Wilson
They’re so dynamic. 

15:22
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. My brother and his family do that Charlie Brown Thanksgiving meal to the boys since they were little. That’s what they loved anyways. 

15:31
Emily Wilson
But, yeah, we’ve never done that. No, I love to. Janine just hits the nail on the head. Like the traditions, like walking into a space and feeling like, oh, this is what I think of when I think of this holiday. We always listen to the same pianist every thanksgiving, autumn season and warm candles and just having just this warm atmosphere now. I mean, it was warm for her for a different reason because southern hemisphere. But there’s a lot to be said with that. 

16:08
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. And I would say that one of the things that happens when you’re overseas is you didn’t realize that’s what you were missing until you walk into it. And then, like you said, it’s like, oh, this is really what I needed, what I missed, or what feels like this holiday to me. So that’s really special. 

16:26
Emily Wilson
Yeah. But the ensue. Yeah, I did follow up with her and no, she did not ever consume. 

16:35
Rich Rudowske
Right, right. Yeah. There’s got to be limits somewhere, I guess. Yeah. So speaking of thanksgiving holidays, does your family watch football? Thanksgiving at. You guys don’t strike me as sports people. Really. So, you know, the Detroit Lions play every year on thanksgiving. That’s like a Michigan tradition then that you’re going to watch the Lions or a lot of people even go to the game even though they’re terrible at football and it’s a disappointment every single year. But this year they play the Chicago Bears. So maybe we’ll. Or something. I don’t know. Yeah. So I remember our first thanksgiving. Then in Botswana, we didn’t get to watch the Detroit Lions game. And to be honest, we both thought that was a tradition that was worth giving up at that point. And nothing’s really changed so far this year. 

17:22
Rich Rudowske
The Detroit Lions, as we’re recording this podcast, they are winless on the season. This is the first football season where there are 17 games instead of 16 games in the regular season. But they’re not going to be owing 17 because they didn’t win on Sunday, but they tied. So it’s a very lion’s way to also not do something new. Anyways, let’s talk about our well behaved neighbors to the north in Canada, they have a Thanksgiving tradition, too. And we’re going to hear from Mike and Kara Kuhn, who are lutheran bible translators Canada missionaries serving in Cameroon canadian thanksgiving is celebrated in a similar manner to us thanksgiving, but it is the second weekend of October on a Monday, which doesn’t make sense. So that was Emily’s note. Anyways. It follows the second weekend of October celebrated on Monday. 

18:14
Emily Wilson
Yes. That is exactly how the Internet describes it. 

18:17
Rich Rudowske
The Internet. Okay. 

18:19
Emily Wilson
The World wide web. 

18:21
Rich Rudowske
According to crowdsourced information, if there are any Canadians listening and you have more, better information than the Internet, send that on to us. So, yeah, the coons and the Derek’s, we’re going to hear from them, too. Both in Cameroon. Cameroon is like, right in. Okay. They call it the armpit of Africa sometimes. So if you’re listening from Cameroon, we don’t mean that in a negative way, but if geographically. That’s just what it looks like. 

18:45
Emily Wilson
It looks like a rooster. 

18:46
Rich Rudowske
It looks like a rooster. This location is in the west central part of Africa. Correct. And it has lots of different climates there. I don’t know if at Thanksgiving time it’s any different than the other time, which is hot. Yes. 

19:04
Emily Wilson
Very toasty. 

19:05
Rich Rudowske
Where these guys are anyways, that you can go to some places that are in mountains that are nice and cool, but we’re really digressing here. So what do we know about. What do we hear from Mike and Kara and the Derek’s here? 

19:15
Emily Wilson
Oh, well, we get to hear a little bit about the menu and what that all entails for them as they were improvising, but also how Cameroonians celebrate in thanksgiving in their church and in their communities. 

19:33
Speaker 8
Hi, rich. Hi, Emily. So you want to know a little bit about thanksgiving as Canadians in Cameroon? When we first arrived, were in a small village in the northern part of Cameroon, a village called Galim. And were really the only missionaries in the village, so there was no opportunity to gather with other people. So our family would just try and do a special meal on our own. When I think back on thanksgiving in Canada, usually the three things I think about are family, lots of good food, and giving thanks to God in prayer. So we always try to incorporate those things into our thanksgiving celebrations in Galeim. Kara, can you work us through the menu a little bit? 

20:17
Rhoda Hoag
So if were in Canada, we’d usually be having turkey, but we didn’t have access to Turkey and Galeem. Sometimes we could get a duck, sometimes we could get a chicken, but sometimes they were hard to find. So if you were lucky and you started looking a few weeks in advance, you might find somebody who has a fowl for sale, and you can get it and keep it at your place. And when it’s getting close to thanksgiving, have a neighbor friend come over and help you slaughter it and then cook it up. So we often did duck or chicken. 

20:55
Speaker 8
So for us, the Derricks’ family living in Cameroon, when thanksgiving comes around and we’re missing home and we’re missing the holiday time, one wonderful tradition that we have in Cameroon is called the fetto reconesance. The day of thanksgiving, they call it. And so there’s a special church service. It’s a very long service, maybe three or 4 hours, but everyone dresses up their best. Everyone just is in really great spirits and really feeling positive after their harvest. And when they give their offering, it’s probably their biggest offering of the year. 

21:36
Speaker 8
And to show their joy to give that gift, usually the members of the congregation, along with ourselves, place our gift, maybe like some kind of vegetables or some kind of even I’ve seen chickens and goats and things put on top of your head and you dance down the aisle of the church as you offer your offering, offer your tithe in front of the altar. And so that’s something we’ve always looked forward to. And even after that church service, we have friends over to just talk about things we’re thankful for. And that tradition we’ve had in Cameroon really helps us feel closer to home. 

22:23
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. Actually, listening to Elliot’s story just reminds me, of course, that the timing of Thanksgiving and for many cultures throughout world history and still in the world today is really tied to the harvest and the dependence, really, that you have on God’s graciousness through that harvest work. 

22:41
Emily Wilson
Yeah, that’s actually what I was thinking between Mike and Caricoon and Elliot, Derek’s sharing about his experience with Serena and the kids, just that what was the origin before thanksgiving? It wasn’t football. It wasn’t even like Turkey. But thanksgiving for what we have been given in our family and in the provision that we have for food and gathering together in fellowship, thanking God. And it is beautifully imagined in my mind of seeing people from different backgrounds, different cultures and how we can celebrate in thanksgiving around the world. 

23:25
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. And those demonstration of the thankfulness, the parading, the gift. Sometimes maybe we think in our culture, like, not to be too show or you’re ostentatious or whatever, but in this case, it’s not about that. It’s not about showing off the gift. It’s about showing how thankful we are. 

23:40
Emily Wilson
To give the display of gratitude that we are so thankful to have this chicken, this squash, being able to say, lord, everything that I have is from you. And being able to give that back. 

23:55
Rich Rudowske
Right. That’s in the book of deuteronomy. That’s where it’s read in lutheran churches on Thanksgiving celebration services, usually the Old Testament reading is a reading from deuteronomy where God says, when you have entered into this land where you’re going to have all this abundance, all these riches, this is the thing that really just resonates with me. All these abundance, all this riches and things that you’re going to have available, remember to give thanks to God, or you’re going to think that you did it yourself. And so these demonstrations of thankfulness that we see from places that maybe don’t even have access to nearly the amount of abundance, but that heart of saying I’ve been given something, I have what I need, and I want to say thanks is really beautiful. 

24:35
Emily Wilson
So our next story is definitely about fellowship. Carl and Kelsey Grilky and Tiffany Smith actually got to celebrate with them in Botswana a couple of years ago when she was still an intern with us and just coming together and celebrating with the people in our community and just kind of a fun flavor for them. So take a listen. Hi, Emily and Rich and podcast fans. 

25:10
Rich Rudowske
This is Kelsey and Carl Grolky. 

25:13
Emily Wilson
We live in Maun, Botswana, and we usually try to get the Americans in town together for Thanksgiving every year. 

25:21
Rich Rudowske
We end up with a pretty good number of people between other missionaries that we know and some peace corps volunteers and just other people that have been around. 

25:31
Emily Wilson
Yeah, we have a great time trying to make as close to possible as we can of an american Thanksgiving dinner. 

25:39
Rich Rudowske
There’s one deli in town that stocks turkeys around that time of year, and so we can get an actual turkey. The biggest one that we found last year was, I think, around nine pounds. So a little bit different. 

25:54
Emily Wilson
Our sweet potatoes here are white, and so one of the ladies dyed the sweet potatoes orange so they would look like the ones from home. 

26:03
Rich Rudowske
And we usually spend the year pretty much hunting for cranberries for a cranberry relish. We have found them frozen every once in a while, so every time we go to the shops, I always check the frozen fruit to see if the cranberries are there. I think we’ve had some frozen in our freezer since March, waiting for this year. 

26:26
Emily Wilson
Last year, we put Cheetos on top of our green bean casserole since we didn’t have the little onion bits you’re supposed to put on top. But either way, whatever we can get, we have a great time celebrating a holiday that feels like home. Even if it’s 95 degrees outside, we pack it in and have a great day being thankful together. My first holiday spent overseas just happened to be thanksgiving when I was an intern for LBT in Botswana in 2019. I remember it being the warmest thanksgiving I’ve ever experienced coming from Iowa. And the selection of food was slightly different just because not all of the, quote, normal food that I would associate with Thanksgiving was available in the grocery stores in mount. 

27:17
Emily Wilson
So, for example, I made green bean casserole entirely from scratch, which was a first for me because cream of mushroom soup was just nonexistent in your average supermarket. But what I loved about the whole experience was that it brought together many Americans from around the city together for a comfortable and familiar meal that we all are so just used to celebrating. And so it was nice to celebrate it with people from all over the US and from all walks of life. But we all had that one thing in common, that were missionaries in Botswana, and we could just come together for this one familiar, comfortable tradition. And now that I’m overseas again this year, but this time in England for thanksgiving, I’m really looking forward to sharing that experience with other people. 

28:05
Emily Wilson
Even though I’m the only american in my program, there are still several classmates who want to enjoy, know, quote, traditional american food. So I’m really looking forward to sharing that with them. And I think that it will still be a really fun experience. And, yeah, I guess that’s my experience of thanksgiving overseas. And I just look forward to experiencing more in the future and seeing how creative I can get with ingredients that may or may not be available and how many more people, expats, missionaries, whoever it might be, who I can hear their stories of Thanksgiving and experience that tradition with them. 

28:50
Rich Rudowske
Carl and Kelsey grokie are formidable in the kitchen. Just start with that. I spent close to two months recently doing my doctoral research there in Botswana. And Carl and Kelsey, when I came out of the bush in the field, they would host me. And, yeah, they just do amazing things there, so it’s no surprise that they’re the ones pulling together folks for cheetah Thanksgiving. 

29:10
Emily Wilson
Green bean casserole. 

29:11
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. That is the one thing, though, if Carl and Kelsey are listening. I found those kind of onions when I lived in Botswana, so just don’t give up yet. You can find those french fried onions. So, anyways. 

29:21
Emily Wilson
Yeah, well, I mean, being innovative, I think, is know, and I think that’s the balance. Right, of. Okay, selecting what traditions kind of ground us and in what ways can you bend that tradition I’m going to hunt for cranberries in March because I know that’s something that I love to have with a turkey or whatever the Thanksgiving meal is. And just trusting, like, okay, well, if it doesn’t work out, I’m still going to have a wonderful time because I’m thankful for my family and those around me. And I think that’s what Tiffany kind of shared, know that flexibility and coming together and just encouraging one another. And I love, too, that it’s like then sharing it with other people who don’t celebrate in that same way. It’s good fun. 

30:20
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. When you get to be in that cross cultural situation and then say, let me show you a little bit about where I come from, and share that with others through that is really great. Like you said, the flexibility, on the one hand, it’s about being thankful, but on the other hand, the experience is part of it, too, and what makes it dear to us. And I think you can find that there’s the opportunity to incorporate some what become new traditions, maybe just in that situation where you’re at, or maybe they even come home with you and be sharing with others back home, too. 

30:52
Emily Wilson
It’s like, oh, this is the way I always did it. But maybe this way is exactly when. 

30:58
Rich Rudowske
We, our family, since we’re on the Botswana, just throw one in real quick, too. When we lived in Botswana, we lived in a village kind of remote, so not really an opportunity to gather with others. But one thing that I love that just really illustrates how the people there kind of tried to care for us is one of the owners of a local shop that sold meat, got turkeys in, and so he made a point of showing me, look, I have these turkeys. And so I bought one, and then nobody else was buying these things, and there weren’t a lot. But, yeah, long story short, I bought them all eventually, but they had gotten them in for us because we live there in the community and they heard from somewhere that Americans have this holiday and they eat these strange things. 

31:42
Rich Rudowske
We made one of them, and I actually had the neighbors over and more before you could, like, google search on your phone. I had to go inside on my laptop, and then I printed out this picture that had a chicken and a turkey next to each other to show, like, okay, this is the difference between these. So because they were like, is this just a really big chicken or what? 

31:58
Emily Wilson
Right. Anyway, yeah. Turduckins. Right? 

32:01
Rich Rudowske
Good stuff. But, yeah, just really, again, just to celebrate and be thankful, but then also to really just kind of take in the love that was shown for our family that way. 

32:11
Emily Wilson
Yeah, no, that’s actually quite lovely, because as you’re just kind of acclimating and loving people and being in a different environment, and it’s like, hey, you’re part of the community and we recognize where you come from is different and you have that background to celebrate, too. Thanksgiving is, as we’ve discovered, not uniform around the world, and there’s some flexibility, but sometimes just new traditions entirely need to be created just for our wholeness, our wellness, and for us to be able to truly give thanks and the importance of finding rest and Sabbath. And so one of our chief advocates for actually investing that time in seeking holistic health, member care coordinator Ali Federwitz shares their story of how they celebrate Thanksgiving on annual basis. 

33:17
Ali Federwitz
Our family tradition for Thanksgiving came out of a need for us to just have quality time, just the five of us, without really being involved in any sort of activity with others or even really making a big hoopla out of it. It just needed us to be able to disconnect from technology and from the noise and busyness of the city. So with recommendations from friends, we learned about a private beach about an hour and a half drive from where we live and decided, okay, we’ve heard a lot about this place, why don’t we just check it out? And why don’t we go on Thanksgiving Day? It’s a Thursday. Nobody else here has that day off. And even if it were to be a Friday, these places would be busier than on a Thursday for any normal time. 

34:10
Ali Federwitz
So we just took advantage of it being on an OD day and went to this beach we had heard so much about. And we’re so pleasantly surprised when we showed up there and there was nobody else there. It felt like we owned this beachfront, this part of the ocean, just the five of us. And the beach resort. Resort might be a generous word for it. It’s very basic accommodations, but there was a pavilion with table and chairs just overlooking the sand and the ocean. So our kids would play on the sand building, digging, whatever, and Paul and I would take advantage of them being entertained. And we would drink some really nice coffee and just kind of relax for a little bit. And then after some ocean play, we would enjoy lunch there on the beach, too. We had the restaurant prepare for us. 

35:04
Ali Federwitz
And the guy who runs it has a diverse background, has been a lot of different places, and he just kind of recognized, this is a family here on a Thursday. Hey, are you Americans? Are you celebrating Thanksgiving? And it took a couple of, I think, our second or third year, where he put all of those things together that he had seen us, but we just kind of tell him what we like to eat and just ask him to put together a big platter, family style, with kebabs and vegetables and potatoes and whatever he might have. And we share family style. And one thing the kids especially love is that dessert is included with our meal. And it could be anything from fresh fruit to a scoop of ice cream. Or maybe they’ve made some sort of cake that we can partake. 

35:51
Ali Federwitz
And so it just really feels like a feast for us. In all actuality, the price is far below what you would pay to have a night at a hotel or even actually a meal at a fancy restaurant. We just kind of go for the day, and by the time we return to our home in the late afternoon, early evening, and get showers and just kind of get in comfy clothes, we’re all feeling tired. But that good kind of tired, like the kind of tired you feel after you’ve eaten turkey for the day. And we might watch a movie, we might play some games, but it’s just really low key. And I haven’t had to cook for the day, so that’s relaxing for me. And Paul hasn’t been on his computer or on his phone or anything, and that’s relaxing for him. 

36:39
Ali Federwitz
And the kids have gotten our full attention, so that’s relaxing for them. And then we’ll just eat. Whether we can scrounge for leftovers in the fridge or we make a smoothie and some popcorn. It just feels so different from our regular busyness that we just feel joyful. And then not only do we look forward to that day, but that weekend, then is our traditional time to start decorating our house for Christmas. So the whole holiday really holds just a lot of tradition and memories for our crew each year. And we really kind of protect it. There was once the suggestion that maybe we invite some friends along, and our kids were vehemently opposed to that. No, this is our time. We can play with our friends another time. This is our time. 

37:31
Ali Federwitz
So it really has become something just really fulfilling and relaxing for all of us. 

37:42
Emily Wilson
I want to celebrate Thanksgiving that way. 

37:45
Rich Rudowske
That sounds pretty nice. 

37:47
Emily Wilson
Just being able to actually rest. And I love Thanksgiving. I love Christmas. I think I just overdo the busyness. You know, you try to pack so much in, and there’s a lot to be said to just say, slowing it down, spending time with the key people in your life, maybe that’s not the day. Of that, you can do that. But being able to slow down and actually like, oh, these are the blessings in my life. And to celebrate those and to just breathe. 

38:23
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. There’s certainly a lot of value in the mindfulness that comes with what she described there and that focused on being thankful. Spending time with your family certainly will remind you of some of the greatest gifts that God has given you and what you’re thankful for. And, yeah, it’s just a beautiful story. And again, on a beach in the northern hemisphere, I suppose, in the southern part of the United States, which I haven’t been blessed to be in thanksgiving, maybe that’s an option, but not for the rest of us, right? 

38:53
Emily Wilson
No. 

38:54
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. Great stories and great work putting this together. So what will thanksgiving look like for Emily Wilson? 

39:00
Emily Wilson
Oh, Emily Wilson will be spending time with her nephew and niece, as I like to call them, my halflings. Yes, indeed. Solomon and Hazel. And eating probably too much turkey. My sister has this amazing cranberry and pear sauce that is warm and it has cinnamon in it. And just spending time with family, avoiding shopping at all costs, because that’s just too much madness here. 

39:33
Rich Rudowske
Right? Yeah. And my wife likes to cook from scratch and try new things, so she’s got a nice array of things planned. And I’ll pitch in with some cooking as well. Our family is getting more spread out, and we’ll have a smaller group this year, but enjoy the time. And again, just a great privilege to have the time to be thankful, to share fellowship with those who are close to us and to hear how God’s at work around the world and different expressions of thankfulness, food and festivals and fellowship. So it’s a real privilege to share those stories with you. 

40:09
Rich Rudowske
We hope that as you celebrate your thanksgiving, that the Lord allows for you to have the space also to reflect on all the great gifts he’s given you and just really find that joy in our hearts of being thankful for what God’s done in our lives. 

40:25
Emily Wilson
And shameless. Plug here. As you’re cooking and baking and driving around from place to place, you’re going. 

40:35
Rich Rudowske
To have some time on your hands. 

40:36
Emily Wilson
Yeah. Which can be filled with more essentially translatable. 

40:40
Rich Rudowske
More essentially translatable. 

40:42
Emily Wilson
Where are we going to find that@lbt.org? Podcast or any of your favorite podcast platforms. 

40:49
Rich Rudowske
Yes. And if you’re listening to us on a podcast platform, then you’re already there in the right place. You might think about subscribing so you can get that later on. 

40:59
Emily Wilson
It’s true. Tell your friends. 

41:01
Rich Rudowske
Absolutely. 

41:01
Susan Kaiser
And happy Thanksgiving. 

41:03
Rich Rudowske
Happy Thanksgiving. I’m so glad that you spent some of it with us. Thank you for listening to the essentially translatable podcast brought to you by Lutheran Bible Translators. You can find past episodes of the podcast@lbt.org slash podcast or subscribe on audible, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow Lutheran Bible translators social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Or go to lbt.org to find out how you can get involved in the Bible translation movement and put God’s word in their hands. This episode of essentially translatable was produced and edited by Andrew Olson. Our executive producer is Emily Wilson. Podcast artwork was designed by Caleb Rodewald. Music written and performed by Rob Veith. I’m Rich Rudowske. So long for now.