By Ann Nunnally

My brother lost his battle with cancer in October 2009. During the last six months of his life, we talked every day. He was six years older than me, and I grew up thinking he hung the moon. His outgoing personality and his service during the Vietnam war set him apart from all others in my mind. He never met a stranger, and he loved life recklessly. He defined his faith in God as being “a whosoever” from John 3:16 KJV, “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” He knew it was not what he could do but what God had done through Jesus Christ that made the eternal difference.

I was speaking at women’s conference in St. Louis, Missouri the first weekend in October. I had taken the shuttle from the airport and settled into my hotel. The onsite restaurant would be the location of my evening meal and after I placed my order, I called my brother. The conversation lasted the entire meal and proved to be the tête-à-tête that changed the last days of his life and mine. He shared his hope of enjoying one last Thanksgiving with his family and friends before death called his name. I knew that he was weak and extremely sick, and I didn’t see how he could possibly enjoy Thanksgiving a full two months out. I began to pray, and as I started the weekend of ministry, I asked the Lord to show me what I could do for my brother to make his wish for a final family Thanksgiving come true.

The women’s weekend was amazing, but I flew home without an answer to my prayer. I knew God had heard me and in the right moment the wisdom would come. It did in a still, small idea that said, “Declare Thanksgiving as October 12 and have it early.” Delighted with the idea, I checked with my family, and all were available to have early Thanksgiving in honor of my brother. We would adapt, adjust to the new conditions, be versatile, changeable and make a final wish come true. 

I called my brother and told him we would be having Thanksgiving early and he was to invite fifty friends and family members for the celebration. I began preparing the food and set the party in motion. Everyone rallied around this brother, uncle, dad, spouse, and friend to fulfill his wish. 

Little did I know the morning after I arrived with Thanksgiving goodies, a painful event would cause me to watch my brother being loaded in the back of an ambulance and taken to hospice. I wondered if I had heard the Lord correctly and if my timing was too late. Hospice kindly offered a meeting room and allowed the feast to happen as planned. My brother sat with family and friends and enjoyed Thanksgiving one last time. A few days later he stepped into eternity as a “whosoever.”

The holidays require adaptability. To navigate life successfully, you must be willing to adjust to new conditions and be able to modify for a new use or purpose. Unhappy people are those who are inflexible and must do it the way it’s always been done. This attitude can make the holidays unbearable. In counseling, I often encourage divorced parents, or disassociated family members to realize it’s not the day on the calendar but the relationship that matters the most. Recently, I shared with a young man who will be having December 25 for the first time without his children, that Christmas is everyday your children wake up and gaze into your eyes, the eyes of a loving father. It’s not a day, but a relationship. Birthdays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas can be celebrated anytime you agree to the details and plan accordingly. Too many times bitterness and resentment take root in our hearts when loved ones don’t perform the way we want them to. 

One of the greatest miracles in the Bible occurred when Jesus and the disciples were adaptable. The feeding of the five thousand, recorded in all four gospels, is an example of great adaptability. The disciples wanted to send the people away because it was late, they were hungry, and there was no food. Jesus said, “What do you have?”  Adaptability often appears in what you have, not in what you want, or in what you have always done. God’s endless supply is always ready as you pray and believe for His wisdom. He can take two fish and five loaves of bread and feed the multitudes if you will allow him too!

Make the decision to be adaptable and you will experience miracles and have real holiday joy this year!