For decades, my mother, Judy Ross, has made the best Thanksgiving feast on the planet.

I’m talking about a mammoth spread of turkey, chicken and dressing, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green beans, cranberry sauce and steaming hot rolls — plus carrot cake, chocolate pie and other homemade desserts that fill an entire table.

Amazingly, this big meal comes only a few hours after a “light” holiday breakfast that always includes fried and scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, sausage, bacon and pancakes with chocolate syrup.

What am I thankful for? Well, for one thing, that I’ve never suffered a heart attack after all that I eat on this particular day. But seriously, I’m grateful for Mom — a kind, loving Christian woman who has spent her entire life serving other people.

Even before a recent mishap, Thanksgiving was shaping up to be a different experience for the extended Ross family in this crazy year. With concerns about big indoor gatherings contributing to the spread of COVID-19, crowding all the brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandbabies and great-grandbabies into Mom and Dad’s home seemed unwise.

But then my iPhone buzzed on a recent Monday morning, and my sister Christy Fichter’s face flashed on the screen. Read the full story.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. Madison Cawthorn arrives in Washington: This is a fascinating interview with a controversial 25-year-old Republican congressman-elect from western North Carolina.

The piece by the Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel contains a whole lot of juicy religious details, such as Cawthorn — a nondenominational Christian who comes from a family of “true frickin’ believers” — talking about his desire to convert Muslims and Jews.

Read more on that angle from GetReligion’s Terry Mattingly.

2. The evangelical reckoning begins: As the Election 2020 post-op continues, The Atlantic’s Emma Green ponders with megachurch pastor Andy Stanley how to pursue faith over politics.