November Thoughts about Giving Thanks

A call to my office, this morning, from the elementary school, brought tears to my eyes.

But first, I must remember the start to my day.

There are few clouds in the sky, the sun is shining bright and it is the coldest day of the season, so far.  As I backed out of my garage for the short drive to work, I was lamenting the fact that my sunglasses were in beside my chair in the living room.  But, I was too lazy to walk the few steps into the house to get them. 

A few steps to the door and my eyes would be sheltered from the bright sun.  Instead, I chose to complain under my breath that I had to squint and the sun was too bright my poor sensitive eyes would feel pain all the way to work.  All for the lack of motivation to walk 50 steps.

The temperature was a subject of conversation as I entered the church where I am a secretary. 

"Isn't it cold outside," said one person and I replied that it was 22 degrees as I got into my car.  What I didn't say, or remember, was that it must have been a temperature greater than freezing where my car was housed in the garage.  My winter coat protected me and I didn't feel cold at all, but felt the need to go along with the weather complaints.

This is the first time in my life that I've had a garage, so I don't have to worry about warming up the engine before I get in to start the heater.  And, when the snow falls, it comes down outside and not on my car, where it has to be cleaned off.  It's really easy street for me.

At times, I'm very thankful for that, but this blessing just didn't occur to me as I joined the chorus of voices complaining about the cold in Pennsylvania.

In the office, before Bible study, someone told me the story of  a Minnesota winter, many years ago,  as he got in his car, one morning, the seats actually cracked because of the cold.  He had no garage and it was negative 22 degrees on that day.  No garage to buffer the cold.

A day set aside, once a year, to thank God for all that we have, is celebrated with a huge feast and people feel the tryptophan in the turkey kick in afterward.  Those that can, give to the local food banks so that everyone can enjoy this one day feast.  But for the most part, we lament over all the reasons to be disgruntled, disappointed and down in the dumps, just to join in the complaining.

Wait, what about this call from the elementary school that brought me to tears?

A lot of difficult issues come in by phone to our church office, but it is always issues with children that cause the most emotion for me.

Our church has a children's shoe bank where we give new sneakers to needy kids and the caller asked if they could come down to get a couple pair of shoes for a little one in elementary school.  I said, "Of course, we can't have someone without shoes in this cold weather."

The school counselor said, "No and his toes are actually sticking out, but we can't tell the size because the sneakers are so old and very big, so we measured his foot and will just have to guess." 

Then came the tears, as I asked for the first name of the child in order to pray for them, right then and there.

Thankfulness in November or any other time for that matter, should be first on our lips.... not an afterthought.  First, not after we complain about everything else.

Yes, there is one day for national Thanksgiving, but what about all the rest of the days of the year.

This Thanksgiving, think about all the little, every day things, that you can be thankful for on a regular basis.  Turning the light switch on and off to see in a dark space.  Turning the faucet handle to get fresh clean water.  Or maybe you are thankful that you can turn the thermostat up and get warm.  Of course, include the big things like family and friends, but look at your toes, are they sticking out of your shoes? 

Just like there are little toes sticking out in the cold, some people have no coat or they give up something just so they have heat in their house.  Maybe they are cleaning off their car because they do not have garage, but they are grateful just to have a car. 

What do you have to be thankful for every day?