Jesus, fully God and fully man, understood the uncomfortable pain of going through trials and wanting things to be different. Before his death on the cross, we find him in the garden, begging the Father to take this cup of suffering away from him.

Recently, I was at a fun lunch with friends after church, sharing about life, ministry, and our personal stories. We found ourselves in the middle of the story of how I arrived in Mississippi. Honestly, it’s one of the lowest moments of my life. As a teenager rebelling against my mom, I allowed her to spend all (literally) of her money to buy a plane ticket for me to come home—only to never board the plane. It’s a long, dramatic story of God’s divine intervention and grace.

Thanksgiving is a time to gather and celebrate the good things in our lives with the people we love. However, Thanksgiving isn’t perfect, even for the most loving and healthy families. Some worry about family conflict as they gather. Others have an empty seat where a loved one once sat or may not have family to gather with at all. The holidays can bring joy, but they can also bring grief, leaving us with a strange feeling of longing for “home”—even when we’re cozy and surrounded by the people and places we love most.

Every person will eventually face a “crossroads” moment—a decision so defining it changes the course of their life. That may sound dramatic, but these moments don’t always feel that way at the time. Choices about family, career, church, or service can profoundly shape our lives and the direction we’re headed.

Jesus often spoke in parables to teach the people around him. One of the most awe-inspiring themes in these parables is that Jesus welcomes the undeserving into his kingdom. Not only do we see this illustrated in his parables, but we also see evidence of it in the people God chose to use in the Old Testament. (Look at Moses, who murdered an Egyptian oppressor, and David, who committed adultery and murder—just to name a few.) No matter how good or bad we may seem when measured by humanity’s moral scale, we’ve all sinned and fallen short. Yet God loved us enough to send Jesus to pay the price for our sins, so we could be made right with him. Oh, how he loves us! When we read the parables Jesus tells, we usually put ourselves in the shoes of the sinner, overwhelmed with gratitude for his mercy and grace. However, one thing Jesus highlights in these stories is not just his forgiveness and love for us, but also the tension believers feel when witnessing someone forgiven whom they may consider undeserving.