Thankful

This Thanksgiving, I am more thankful than ever for what wonderful blessings God has given to us.  Blessings that have come in the form of a roof over our heads, a great job for Justin, two amazing children, a wonderful family and set of friends both near & far, and more than we deserve to get us by on a daily basis.  We are thankful...

This year, I participated in the "Bag of Celebration" at our church.  This outreach is awesome; church members can buy a Thanksgiving meal for a local family in need, and then hand-deliver it to them.  After hearing what a great experience our friends had with it last year, I knew I wanted to help out this year.

I picked up a paper bag & a grocery list at church a couple of weeks ago, and bought about $10-$12 worth of Thanksgiving foods to fill it up -- stuffing, instant mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, cranberry sauce, etc.  Someone local donates hundreds of turkeys to our church for this outreach, and so I picked up my turkey on Sunday morning after service & was handed the name, address & phone number of my recipient.  With kids in tow, we headed to the address on the paper -- an apartment complex just about 3-4 miles from my own house.  The family wasn't home, so I called & left a message at the number I was given, explaining who I was & what I was doing.

About an hour later, the woman called me.  I went through the explanation again, telling her that I was from Celebration Church & had a bag of Thanksgiving food to deliver for her & her family to enjoy.  The phone was silent; after a few seconds, I asked if she was still there.  She was in tears.  She had totally forgotten that she had signed up for this outreach service (weeks or months ago), and was speechless.  She began to tell me her story: Just the night before, she had prayed that something would happen where she could provide a Thanksgiving meal for her & her children.  She only had $15 to her name & didn't get paid again until Friday.  Then she said, "You are the answer to my prayers!"  I, then, became speechless and began to cry.

This small bag of groceries... just $12 worth of groceries that I had bought without thinking twice about the significance that they would have... answered her prayers that she had been praying the night before. $12.  That was it!  A few boxes of mac & cheese and a turkey.  Something so small to me was something bigger than I can ever comprehend to her.

Paying it forward.  That's what this Thanksgiving is about to me.  Helping others.  Being an answer to someone's prayers.

I'm thankful for what God has given to my family, thankful that we had the extra resources this month to buy a Thanksgiving meal for a family in need in our community, and thankful that I was able to help out this single Mom & her kids.  Thankful that tomorrow, as we sit down for our meal, there will be a Mom & her kids sitting down at their dining room table enjoying a meal that we were able to help them with.

Thank you, Lord, for blessing us beyond measure.  All of our thanks go straight to you...