Imagine Thanksgiving morning. The food is being prepared. The table is being set. Someone is making a last-minute trip to the grocery store. Family members are traveling across town — or perhaps across the country — to be together. For many people, Thanksgiving will be filled with wonderful memories. But somewhere nearby, someone may be wondering what they will do that day. They may be alone.

Perhaps they lost a spouse this year. Perhaps their children live hundreds of miles away. Maybe they recently moved to the area and haven't made many friends. Perhaps they are separated from their family. Or maybe they simply don't have anyone who has thought to invite them. While many of us are deciding where everyone will sit around the Thanksgiving table, someone else may be wondering if there will be a place for them at anyone's table. For the children of God, this is an incredible opportunity.

The Bible repeatedly reminds God's people to notice those who might otherwise be overlooked. Hebrews 13:2 says, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels” (NKJV). Jesus also challenged His followers to think beyond the comfortable circle of people who could return their kindness. Thanksgiving gives us a wonderful opportunity to practice that kind of love.

Maybe there is room for one more at your table. Maybe the person who needs an invitation lives next door. Maybe it is a co-worker who can't travel home. Maybe it is an elderly neighbor who rarely receives visitors. Maybe it is someone who has experienced loss and is dreading the first holiday without someone they love. Maybe it is the person you pass every Sunday but have never really gotten to know.

We sometimes think helping others requires something extraordinary. It doesn't. Sometimes ministry looks like making a phone call. Sometimes it looks like delivering a plate of food. Sometimes it looks like sitting beside someone who is hurting. Sometimes it looks like saying, “We would love for you to join us.” And sometimes the simplest acts of kindness become the things people remember for years.

The wonderful thing about gratitude is that it changes our attention. When we begin looking for God's blessings, we often begin noticing people who need a blessing. Thanksgiving can become more than a day when we count what God has given us. It can become a day when we allow God to use what He has given us to bless someone else. You may have more food than your family can eat. Share it. You may have an extra chair. Fill it. You may have a little extra time. Give it. You may have experienced God's kindness. Pass it along.

Not everyone has the same circumstances this Thanksgiving. Some will celebrate with crowded tables. Others will sit quietly in nearly empty rooms. Some will laugh loudly. Others may shed tears when they remember someone who is missing. But perhaps those of us who have been blessed can make the day a little brighter for someone else.

Before Thanksgiving arrives, look around. Ask God to show you someone who may be lonely, hurting, struggling or forgotten. Then do something about it. Because sometimes the greatest expression of thanksgiving isn't what we say before our meal. It is what we do after realizing how much God has given us.

Perhaps this Thanksgiving, the blessing someone needs most is not another gift, another decoration or another plate of food. Perhaps they simply need to know that someone remembered them. There may already be enough food at your table. There may already be enough chairs. There may even be enough love. Maybe the Thanksgiving table has room for one more.

Dr. Tony Banning is a longtime Southern Baptist minister who serves as pastor of Whitehouse Fork Baptist Church in Baldwin County and as an adjunct professor at Coastal Alabama Community College. He is the author of “Come Aside: An Invitation to Experience the Presence of God,” forthcoming this winter.