I Have So Much To Be Thankful For...

Thanksgiving 2008 has come and gone already! Does anyone else feel like this year has passed faster than ever? I do. When I think that we're already in to the Christmas holiday season, I can't believe my eyes. It seems as though we just rolled over into 2008. Where does the time go?

Well, our Thanksgiving this year was unusual for us. We had my Mom come over, and it was just Chris and I with our boys. Linz went to Idaho to spend time with her soon-to-be in-laws. So, the five of us sat around a table laden with too much food, and gave our thanks to God for his blessing and bounty. It's of this I want to talk about.

In our current time of economic woe, I think it's important for us to remember that even the most poor American is rich by comparison with the rest of the world. I personally ate more food yesterday than some see in an entire month. I know we threw away more food than some saw at all yesterday.

Sure, times are hard for us. But are they really? Do you have a house to live in? An apartment? A condo? Do you have heat, lights, and running water? Do you have the luxury of going to sleep at night without fear of invasion, robbery, death, and assault? While it's true that some Americans worry about these things, for the most part, we're all blessed. And yet, there's always the people that you don't see - or, like me, the ones you choose not to see.

As I was driving "over the river and through the woods" yesterday to pick my Mother up, I came to a stop light where a young man about my oldest son's age (22) was standing in the rain, hood up, shoulder's hunched against the cold, holding a sign saying, "Anything will help." I'm ashamed I didn't follow the prompting I had in my heart when I saw him. I was moved to pull over and invite him to my home for dinner. To get warm. To get full. To not be alone. But I didn't. I looked at him with concern, pity, and feeling, but did nothing. I know I'm not so unusual, as cars were passing him left and right, and even those who stopped right next to him ignored his plea. I think what hit me hardest was as the light turned green and we moved away from his corner, I watched in my rear-view mirror as he dropped his sign to his side, and while shaking his head, went to stand next to a telephone pole to try to avoid the rain and cold.

"... in that you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me..."

Why would that pop into my head? Well, wasn't this young man cold? Wasn't this young man hungry? Wasn't this young man without shelter? And didn't I have in my power to offer him all of these, and by doing so, done so to the Lord? I wonder how I'm going to feel as I stand before Jesus Christ at my judgment and that particular scene is replayed? An uncomfortable thought.

So, this season, as we slow down our spending for fear of what may come, and as we wisely and frugally spend our hard earned money, I would hope that you'd remember those who don't have the blessings you have. Maybe we could all think of ways to bless someone else? Maybe you've got an extra coat you don't wear that you could give to another - I know I do. Maybe when you leave a shop this season, instead of rushing past the bell-ringers collecting for the less fortunate, we'd all take a moment and consider the young man on Thanksgiving morning, standing in the rain, holding a sign that said, "Anything will help."

We are rich. We are blessed. We have abundance the rest of the world only dreams about. Please, consider them this year - and discover a reason to be truly thankful this season.

God bless you all.