Thanksgiving

Yesterday morning I realized once again how blessed I am. A month or so ago, my little church family went to the Scranton Rescue Mission and served dinner to a group of homeless people. Along with dinner we provided a short worship service of songs and a message. Many of them left the Mission that night with bags of clothes, some leftover food, and a message from the Word of God. I remember a lot of those faces. Stuff like that really gets imprinted in my mind somehow.

Yesterday morning on my way to work, I noticed a couple walking down the sidewalk along the busy street, and from afar they looked like high schoolers slowly walking on their way to school. It was chilly and pretty windy outside, so I wondered why their parents had allowed these teenagers to walk to school this cold morning. As I got closer, I recognized them as a young couple who had been at the Rescue Mission the same night that my church had been there. They both appeared to be in their 20s, and the girl was pregnant. The young man's facial expression was one of concern - the girl's was a mixture of uncertainty and discomfort.

At that moment, I had no excuse to complain to God about the droopy ceiling in my car. I had no desire to groan about our neighbor's obnoxious miniature dachshund who barks at everything in sight or earshot. God has blessed Steve and I with cars that get us from Point A to Point B, a warm apartment, college degrees that get us decent jobs, and plenty of food in our cupboards. Plus, I'm not pregnant...which is another huge blessing! On top of school and work and our current living situation, we could not handle a third person in our household. My heart hurts for this couple.

Shame on us when we take God's blessings for granted! Why does it take a sorrowful sight such as this to shake me up enough that I finally thank Him for what He's done in my life? It is good to see these things and give thanks...but why did I wait this long? When we take His blessings for granted, we eventually become people of privilege - we believe that we have "rights" for a good home, a sweet car, and a perfect marriage. WE DON'T! We don't deserve anything He gives us in this blessed world! We don't even deserve the very breath we breathe. But He does bless us...He gives us more than we can ever hope for. For these things, dear Christian, never cease giving thanks.

I hope you remember this as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday next week. I would call this a coincidence, but I know better than that. He has a plan for each and every one of our hearts, and He's sure made a mark on mine this week.