Just a Thanksgiving Story

This morning, as Ron and I were having coffee, for some reason, I remembered a story. I thought it was a nice Thanksgiving story. Before I started hooking rugs, I spent years at Weight Watchers. Now, I think about membership dues and I go buy wool. I got to be good friends with the leaders there. My favorite leader told this story and it reminded me of how blessed we are in the little things.

 

I am sorry I don't remember the exact year, but my friend Nancy, told us how her husband is a missionary who goes into places to bring short term aid and other things after disasters. Her church then sponsors people to come to the United States and here to Bakersfield. She said she was always good with languages and dialects and for some reason she could  speak a little of this woman language from South America.
They took this family into their home and it was a Mom and Dad and three children. Young children. They had lived in a village that had been destroyed and were able to save their family with nothing else.

 

Nancy told how when they first came into her home, the Mom and the kids had eyes as big as saucers and they just touched the furniture and the woman told Nancy that she lived in a castle. The first night, Nancy said she had made two bedrooms ready one for the children and one for the Mom and Dad. The kids, were terrified to be away from their parents and the parents had never slept on a mattress so they asked if they could all sleep in one room on the floor. She got them blankets and the family all slept together. As she told me later because her small bedroom was bigger than their whole house.

 

Because our food would have made them sick, she had to be very careful what she fixed. The children were hungry so as she thought that popcorn would be an easy choice. She said, she took out the bag and put it in the microwave. When it started popping the kids started screaming and ducking down and crying because they had never had popcorn, and they thought it was gunfire. She stopped the microwave and took the bag out and told the mother what it was and got the kids calmed down. She put them on the counter so they could see, but that they jumped every time the corn popped.

 

She poured the popped corn into a bowl and they very carefully ate it one kernel at a time. She said, she thought she fixed a few more bags of popcorn and had to explain to the Mom about microwaves.
It was almost Thanksgiving so Nancy said she had to be very careful of what she fixed. She thought turkey would be too rich so she just roasted a large chicken with lots of vegetables, even then, the family was in awe of all of the food. She said, taking them to the grocery store was an adventure too. They couldn't comprehend all of the food.

 

Nancy said, she had a really hard time explaining that she worked at a place teaching people how to not eat. The lady just couldn't understand how or why that could be. We laughed about it but as I was telling Ron this I thought about my table at Thanksgiving and how we will have so much food and it makes me remember the things that I know I take for granted. I kept thinking of this grand house I live in and all of the nice furniture and the heaters that comes on all by itself and keeps me warm.

I just thought I would share this as when she was telling the story I was on the edge of my chair. I went up afterwards and had her tell me more of the story. The family did go on to get a small apartment and the kids went to school and the husband got a job and they were bringing people over here and helping them to learn our culture. At Thanksgiving we celebrate a holiday, about God's provision. How if not for those early Pilgrims who God brought here and who had prepared for them Samoset and Squanto, who brought popcorn to that early feast. Who knows. There are no accidents or coincidences. Only plans.

Have a lovely day,
~Kim~

 Godliness with contentment is great gain."
(1 Timothy 6:6)