Giving thanks

Thanksgiving at the Nursing Home

/ pastorpete51 / 8 Comments 
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Oh yes, Thanksgiving is creeping up on us! I have read a lot of great posts about giving thanks, but people at the Nursing Homes which I visit take on a different viewpoint of the holiday. Very few will get to spend it with their family at a table filled with food. Most will get a few slices of turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy in the dining hall. Their thankfulness isn’t punctuated by football games, and they aren’t making plans to do Black Friday shopping. Instead, most of the thankfulness up and down the halls in long term care is about a table that they will sit at one day with Jesus Christ. They come to our hymn singing times and either join in if they still can or just listen as the Lord lifts up their hearts to Him. Yes, we should be thankful for what we have received, but what lies ahead is so much greater and will last forever. Why not take a moment to close yourself in with God and picture His answer to your prayers before you receive them? Why not give thanks right now for what lies ahead, and then receive His peace which is greater than anything you can understand that can guard your heart and mind in Jesus?

Chicken Soup for Thanksgiving – Guest Post

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

Chicken Soup – A Thanksgiving Story by Rob Keller

First a word about my good friend Rob. Rob is a graphic artist and a writer who collaborates with me and Pastor Janice Burnett to publish Sunshine Newsletter which is freely distributed in approximately 14 facilities in Florida, New York and Ohio. I am forever grateful to them as well as Barb Hegreberg of My Life in Our Father’s World who sometimes appears as a guest columnist. Chicken Soup for Thanksgiving will appear in next week’s Sunshine Newsletter, and I was so touched that I asked his permission to allow me to share it here. I hope you will be as blessed as I was. Thanks Rob!

Every November, my mother told us the unforgettable story of one Thanksgiving when she was a little girl. That year, her father prepared food parcels to share with those in need and each one contained everything needed for a Thanksgiving dinner. Starting in the morning, people came to the door, and each received their ready-to-cook feast. Later, just as their family was about to sit down to enjoy their own Thanksgiving, the doorbell rang again. When my grandfather opened the door, he found a humble man in need of food for his family. Although all the boxes were gone, my grandfather wouldn’t let him go away empty-handed. He packed up his own family’s dinner and gave it to that grateful father. As my mother and her family ate chicken soup for their Thanksgiving dinner that year, a warm sense of God’s blessing filled their hearts. That happened nearly one hundred years ago, long before I was born, but I still get teary-eyed every time I tell this story.

Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. Isaiah 58:10 NLT

In today’s verse, God promised that He would always provide for His people when they provided for others. As the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years, God sent mana from heaven to feed them. Of course, that miraculous provision is unique in all of history. Usually, the Lord feeds the hungry through people like my grandfather. With Thanksgiving just a few weeks away let’s thank God for His care, and also be grateful for the people He uses to bless our lives. Let’s show our gratitude by saying, “Lord, use me to make your love real to the people around me even when it means having chicken soup for Thanksgiving!

Photo by Hayden Walker on Pexels.com

A Thousand Thank You’s

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

 I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers. Philemon 4

Thankfulness is a lesson I am still in the process of learning. Maybe, like Martha, I am overburdened with the pots and pans of life clanging in my ears, that I too easily pass by the quieter people who are nearest and dearest. It is far too easy to dash ahead to the next goal, the next project or chore, and to simply flick on the television and relax at day’s end without a moment to say thank you. So, this morning, before I rush out the door, let me say “Thank you!” and “God bless!” to the 1,000 people who for one reason or another have followed this blog. We are on a journey together, following the footsteps of the one who gave thanks and blessed the bread and the cup that He passed around the table to us. When we eat the bread and drink that cup together, we remember His death until He comes. Let’s begin this new day and new week to be thankful for those He has placed in our lives and treat one another with grace, respect for our differences and kindness.

Photo by George Dolgikh @ Giftpundits.com on Pexels.com