THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING

I had a great time Thanksgiving night sharing a feast with some very special people. Ron and Diana Kretz are missionaries serving in Athens, Greece, directing the Athens International Bible Institute and they hosted me and another couple for dinner. The other couple are local Christians in Athens. They are associated with the International Church of Christ and conduct services on Sunday in their home. Their names are Theofanis (Theo) and Mari Roropoulos. They are a unique and dedicated couple. Theo designs ladies clothes and they both are opera singers. Theo is Greek and Mari is from Bulgaria.

They celebrated their first ever Thanksgiving dinner with us. They sure made it a very special Thanksgiving for me, even though I had to celebrate separated from my family. Being in Greece with Ron and Diana, and celebrating with Theo and Mari, made this Thanksgiving one of the fondest ever.

Before we blessed and ate the feast Ron and Diana prepared, Ron told Theo and Mari about the first Thanksgiving and why we continue the holiday today. Then each of us told of some of the things we had to be thankful for. It was special listening to each one express their personal gratitude. Then, it was time to eat, and we did! It was great! I am still enjoying some of it today. Diana sent me home with a lot of the leftovers.

The only negative was that it had to start so late in the evening that we had to cut our fellowshipping short because Theo and Mari had to work on Friday. Thursday was not a holiday in Greece. They don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here. We started eating about 10:00PM and broke up about 11:30PM.

I will see Theo and Mari again on December 14. They invited me to speak at their “House church.” I am looking forward to the fellowship with the church in their home.

I am winding down the day after Thanksgiving listening to a Montgomery, Alabama radio station playing Christmas music, and I am trying to stay awake long enough to call the family back in Alabama to wish them a happy day after.

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