On Being Thankful

An Autumn garden bouquet.

 

My thoughts today did not arise from the fact that it was Thanksgiving in the USA yesterday. Rather, they come as a result of hearing of so much disease in my circle of friends and acquaintances lately. The expression "bad things happening to good people" comes to mind.

But why does the Bible tell us explicitly to be thankful in all things? For me, the main reason is that I do not know the mind of God, nor do I see the big picture like He does. This becomes a trust issue and if I trust him, then what is happening is not really bad, but something that will turn out for the good. That is a difficult idea to wrap our minds around when we are in the thick of radiation or chemotherapy.

On a more practical level, there is something that most of us have experienced. When something bad has happened, it makes us concentrate on the good things we took for granted, before the bad thing happened. Years ago when I came out of the hopsital after 4 days of not knowing if I would live or die, I suddenly appreciated the smell of the air, the shades of green in the trees, and the twitter of sparrows.

 

On a very simple level, how much do we appreciate the way we used to be able to breathe freely before we had the bad cold and all that congestion? So calamity forces us to draw on the good, the relationships, the faith, and the hope that we will love and appreciate life so much more when all this dust has settled. But as with most trauma, in the thick of which we only have questions, the gratitude will probably be the strongest in retrospect.  

Thanksgiving and Pumpkins

 

The lowly squash known as a pumpkin, conjures up different images for different folks. Almost every year we drive through Keromeos at the end of summer/early autumn and thoroughly enjoy the pumpkin displays at the various fruit stands along Highway 3. Mariposa always has the best display and by far the best variety of squashes and gourds. For me, the pumpkin is more representative of  Thanksgiving than Halloween. Yes, the Jack 'O Lantern is a powerful image and is prolific at the end of October, but all those orange orbs speak to me of Thanksgiving dinner and .......

 

PUMPKIN PIE!

 

 

Let us give thanks.

 

Guiness World Record

 

Today, 15 miles north of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, there will be an attempt to break the world record for number of combines harvesting a wheat field. According to the website of Harvest for Kids, they already have enough harvesters signed up to get the job done. It is a fund raiser to send kids to summer camps. In the evening there will be festival and concert with High Valley. Check out their "On a Combine" video.

If I lived anywhere near this event, I would attend. I am still a prairie boy at heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUAnfxt_x6I

Most Delicious

I should have brought out my camera much sooner, but I did catch the dessert. busylizzy made a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner for us and it just gave us one more thing to be thankful for. I have to hand it to her. She has some serious food intolerance's and yet she prepares our favourites even though she cannot eat everything. This incredible pumpkin cheesecake was made by my son-in-law. If you think it looks good, you should have tasted it. I say that in the past tense because it is no more. As you can see below, Liam and I are on the same page when it comes to cheesecake.

Giving Thanks

Not sure how the lowly turkey gets so much attention at Thanksgiving. Something to do with the pilgrims at Plymouth Rock perhaps, but it has become an enduring symbol of family, food, harvest, and giving thanks. Offering up a prayer at a Thanksgiving meal is a bit of a challenge. Dare one begin a list of things to be thankful for? As a Christian, I know the source of all good gifts and I know who I am thanking, but a list means that we just might forget something or someone. Besides, the list, even though complete, would result in cold food, and one very impatient grandson who not only is anxious to chow down, but wants to do the praying himself.

Gratitude is an attitude and you either are or you are not thankful. I have posted before how I lay my head down on the pillow at night and begin to be grateful. It is a great stress reliever, and an attitude adjuster. When in a truly thankful mode, one finds it incredible just how much there is to be thankful for. And it goes way beyond the physical things in life. Actually, those are the least significant of all things to give thanks for, but nevertheless, important.

This weekend I am particularly thankful that we had an opportunity to spend a day with my nephew and his two small children after they took wife and mother to the airport where she flew to Italy for a few days. Why am I thankful for this? It was not that long ago that 'M' was given a death sentence with a deadly strain of cancer that was coursing through his body. Today he is as healthy a specimen as you will ever see, having beaten the cancer in spite of the doctors and the health care system. With a lot of prayer and a change in diet, he beat it, and he just informed us that his dad, whose cancer prognosis also was grave, has recently been given a clean bill of health, again without the aid of doctor's chemo or radiation. As I sat visiting with him, his two beautiful children at his side, I could not help but be grateful for life itself, and for healing. What are you grateful for today?     

Remembering To Say Thank You

I have had time to do some soul searching and review of the last several months. I see some encouraging and some discouraging trends. Apart from a wonderful holiday, there is an issue staring me in the face and that is the lack of work. From Dec. 12 to Feb. 12, I worked a total of 5 hours, for pay, and I have not yet been paid as of today. January of 2010 was a banner month, my best January ever, just to compare. You would be shocked at the figures. I am. 

In the last two weeks things have picked up a little and we worked almost every day even working a full 8 hours, for the first time since December, just yesterday. 

The discouraging thing about this is that I am not willing nor able to retire just yet. In my last few good working years, it would be better that I work than that I do not. I am losing it physically, and my retirement plans cannot kick in until I reach a certain age or I will run out of money sooner than later. 

The encouraging trend is that this does not bother me as much as it has in the past. In talking to others, I have it good, by comparison. The middle aged fellow I met last week who has a huge mortgage and two kids and is also out of work is in a state of desperation. I am not. 

I am finding myself becoming more grateful these days. In the past, when things have gone sideways for me, I have greatly regretted not being more thankful when my situation was better. Well, now I am very thankful.  My prayers these days are almost all about gratitude. I am finding that everything in my life is a gift and I am thankful for it. Every new day, every breath, laying my head on my pillow at night with no pain, in a warm bed, and with a full stomach, being as healthy as I am, is just so fantastic. It may not always be so. 

So, I say thank you continually, and whatever comes my way, well, I have become more relaxed about it.   

Wasn't That a Party!

Thanksgiving Sunday was a very full day but we had a great time. Lis and I were up bright and early to get to church on time to put on the coffee and continental breakfast for 300 t0 400 people. We have a great team and many hands made light work. We really enjoy our turn every month and besides providing a valuable service, we have grown close to our fellow team members while aiding in a vital part of the fellowship of believers in our church. We always go out for lunch after we have cleaned up the kitchen but this time we passed. There was too much to do at home to get ready for the big Thanksgiving dinner in the late afternoon.

We always invite our kids and grand kids, along with my father, for the the big turkey day, but because my dad is in the hospital, we thought it would be fun to have his brother and his wife in his place. Uncle Jack and Aunt Louise are almost 90 but there is little evidence other than their birth certificates, to verify the fact. They are two people who are fun, energetic, and always entertaining. Uncle Jack put on a little magic show for my grandsons, or that was the pretense, because we all enjoyed it tremendously and had many good laughs. Aunt Louise, who still bounces around like a teenager, in spite of a badly pinched nerve giving her leg pain, kept us in stitches with her witty comments and 'over the top' compliments to Chef Lis. Wayne, my sister's husband, was here to get my dad's car and joined in the fun. The stories, many of which were probably exaggerated just a wee bit, were flowing fast and furiously, always accompanied with rounds of laughter and more banter. The food was exquisite, we ate too much, we laughed a lot, and in the midst of it, I was ever so thankful.

* The photo is Nathan and Chad getting into the spirit of fun and frivolity after the magic show.