Sunday, October 08, 2006

Thankful

Well, Thanksgiving weekend is here. After weeks of people asking me what I'm going to be doing for Thanksgiving, I've finally figured it out. My grandmother is here, and we're having turkey dinner at my house tomorrow for supper (after me threatening suicide if Mum cooked a ham instead!). Something we always do at Thanksgiving dinner is go around the table saying one thing that we're thankful for, so this morning before church started, I was pondering what my response would be this year. Normally, I don't think about it beforehand, so I come up with something true but a little corny or stupid (like "I'm just thankful to be alive!" which I am... but perhaps not as much as I'm thankful for other things). I found that I am thankful for many things this year... I'm thankful that my grandparents were wise and loving enough to set money aside for my post-secondary education so I wouldn't have to deal with the stress of student loands, I'm thankful that I can put that money to good use and do well in school, and I'm thankful that I have a little puppy who licks my nose to wake me up in the morning. But perhaps more than all those big (and little) things, I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to love others and hopefully show Christ's love and be an encouragement to other people through how I act. Sometimes I wonder if I've made a difference, and who knows if I really have, but I believe with my whole heart that God will use me to encourage someone else... to show someone extraordinary compassion... to nurture someone who didn't get the full amount of nurturing they need(ed) to mature into a healthy adult.

Ed Dickson from Ukraine spoke in church this morning. I cried. He showed pictures of the different orphanges and areas that his ministry is helping. He showed a video of the McDonald's Christmas outreach where orphans get to go have dinner at McDonald's as their Christmas present. (As an aside, McDonald's is where the "elite" in the Ukraine go out to eat... as in, women wear EVENING GOWNS... this is an experience that these orphans would never have otherwise.) It was heartbreaking... Some Christmas, I am going to go and help and experience this firsthand. I need to. And I might not ever come home.

1 Comments:

At 4:30 p.m., Anonymous Anonymous said...

And Mommy cried......

 

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