A Thanksgiving Story

I was working in my office at the church when my telephone rang.  Jo Henson, a member of my church, had an urgent request.  “Dee, could you come to my house right now!  I need you.”  Jo lived within a block or two of the church, so I arrived at her home within minutes.  Having heard so much excitement in her voice, I didn’t know what to expect. 

Jo met me at the door and led me to her den, where she sat down and said, “I just have to tell you what happened to me today. You know I’ve recently finished chemotherapy treatments for cancer.  While I had that medicine in my system I couldn’t eat.  Nothing tasted good to me.  But today, my friend Carolyn brought me some homemade potato soup and, Dee, it tasted good!  After months of everything tasting like medicine, I enjoyed my lunch today.  I asked you to come here so we can thank God for that wonderful soup together. 

That day, my friend Jo taught me the meaning of thanksgiving.  Thankfulness isn’t about how much you have.  You don’t feel gratitude because life is easy.  Thanksgiving happens when you see God’s goodness in small things and praise Him in a big way. 

May you, like my precious friend, Jo, experience true thanksgiving.  May you see God working through little things to bless you in big ways. 

See God in Life's Good Gifts

When my Andrew was a little boy, he had a favorite blanket he always wanted at bedtime, nap time, or when he was feeling uneasy about life.  This blanket, along with his folded first finger, had seen him through many anxious moments and had ushered him into many nights of restful sleep.  I don’t suppose Andrew couldn’t remember a time he didn’t have that blanket.  He probably didn’t think too much about where it came from, though he certainly knew when it was missing.  So did the rest of the world! 

Then, one day, at a Furman football game, Linda and I crossed paths with a dear friend.  Lottie had been a member of the church we served when Andrew was born and had personally made that blanket for him.  She had stitched his name and birth date into it and had added many other beautiful touches to it.  Our children were with us that day, so I saw the opportunity to make an important introduction. 

Andrew, this is Ms. Lottie Caldwell.  You know your favorite blanket?  She’s the one who made it just for you. 

Andrew looked up at Lottie in wide-eyed amazement.  I didn’t know if he was going to say “thank you” or take off his shoes and fall to the ground.  But he moved to a new level of understanding that day, a deeper level of maturity.  Now, he not only knew the blessing of a good gift.  Andrew also knew the giver of the gift.  He not only had a cherished resource.  He had a relationship with the one who had given it. 

Your life and mine are filled with good things.  We value them.  We enjoy them.  We sometimes think or talk about being lucky or fortunate.  But the Bible teaches us that life’s good things can lead us beyond themselves.  They can introduce us to the giver of the gifts.  James teaches us…

(James 1:17) Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

When you know that every gift points beyond itself to a Giver, then you can see God in all of life’s good gifts.