When Cade was in school, I sent him to school—the Tuesday before Thanksgiving—with a backpack full of turkey plates and brown bags cut into ‘vests’ for the day’s festivities.

We had an argument about whether his lunch also belonged in his backpack, since there was to be a Feast. I told him, “I believe your feast is just going to be a snack.” But he was remembering the turkey lunch meat with corn chips and cranberry jello, served at the kindergarten feast last year. Surely, the menu would be the same, wouldn’t it?

But, no. I was right and he was wrong. The feast was only a snack.

That evening, he came and whispered to me, sharing that his eyes got very, very wet during the feast. When I asked why, he said it was because there were no grownups at the feast in first grade. In kindergarten, there had been grownups. He liked having grownups at the feast. Also, he didn’t think a feast should be a snack.

I asked if he had told the teacher how he was feeling, and he said, “No, I didn’t want to explode and start crying in front of everyone. I just wanted to come home and tell you.”

Will you be hosting or attending a Feast this week? Is there a chance anyone will have very, very wet eyes? Perhaps you’ll be remembering last year’s feast, and noticing that things aren’t quite the same; Perhaps loved ones will be missing, or traditions altered.

The Lord doesn’t promise us that life’s menu will match last year’s, or that our table will be filled with every dear one. What He does promise is Himself. He will be with us; We’ll never be alone. And He will never change; He’ll be the same today, tomorrow and forever. He’s the anchor for our souls (Heb. 6:19).

One day, those who are in the family of God will be invited to a Feast of great celebration. There, he will wipe away every tear from every very, very wet eye (Rev. 21:4). He will tell us that we are finally home, and that all of our sorrows and losses have come to an end.

Will you remember this, as you face the holidays? Lift your eyes—wet as they may be—to that table, being set, and that home being readied (Heb. 11:16, Rev. 19:9).

Photo is of Cade with very, very wet eyes at around the time of this story.