Thanksgiving wishes to all you bloggers. As our editorial Wednesday noted, worries may seem to outnumber blessings in many Wichita-area homes over this holiday season. Still, there many reasons to be thankful. And struggles can sometimes focus the mind and heart on what really matters – such as our loved ones, faith and traditions.
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Some of you may remember my writing partner is living in India. She recently moved from Mumbai to New Delhi so is away from the hell storm going on down there. There was supposed to be a Thanksgiving Dinner for about 200 expatriates at the Taj this evening.
Makes me wonder, if the attackers were really targeting Americans, did they get their day wrong.
One of her friends’ wife was killed in a hotel rest room. She’d been attending a large wedding
From http://www.secularright.org =-
A secularist’s thoughts on Thanksgiving
November 26th, 2008 – Heather Mac Donald
Michael Novak recently asked me: “Am I right in saying that atheists have no one to thank, [unlike] Jews and Christians [who] do thank and praise God for so many good things?” In light of our national holiday tomorrow, I thought I would take up his question here.
The problem for the nonbeliever is not that there is no one to thank for our good fortune but that there are more targets of gratitude than we can possibly acknowledge.
God does have the advantage of being a centralized receptacle for thanks, but is otherwise quite flawed as an object of gratitude, in my view.
I am indebted every day to human ingenuity that I could not possibly replicate on my own. I live on the 15th floor of an apartment buildinga remarkable situation! Within this marvel of engineering, I have electricity, clean water, protection from the elements, and now, the internet, that miracle of knowledge aggregation that gives individuals more power than anyone has ever before possessed. Humans created all these wonders through tireless, loving, and patient empirical observation and experimentation.
I give thanks for the centuries-long development of limited government and to our Founding Fathers who created the most flexible and stable written constitution yet devised. As a secular conservative, I am particularly grateful for the free market system that supplies America’s cornucopia of goodies, an accomplishment that the current financial crisis in no way discredits.
But there are elements of my good fortune that are not the product of human effortsuch as the facts that I a citizen of the United States and not, say, the Congo; that I was born with a sound body; and that the laws of nature work as they do. Do I need a God to account for those windfalls? In the first two cases, definitely not. I accept without discomfort the massive role of randomness in the distribution of benefits and handicaps; the alternativethat they represent deliberate judgment–is too horrible to contemplate. Were I to thank God for my extreme luck in being born into a society where people do not routinely massacre each other, I would have to explain why I deserve this happy outcome, whereas those millions of individuals who are not so fortunate in their birthplace do not. Likewise, if God is responsible for my healthy physical constitution, I would have to explain why he allows thousands of innocent children to be born with painful and sometimes fatal birth defects while sparing me.
.
Coming up with such explanations, in my view, requires either narcissism or the torture of reason. Most believers seem oblivious to the solipsism entailed by their thanking God when their cancer goes into remission, say. But the problem remains: Why did God save you and let the patient in the bed next to you die? The results are no more satisfactory when a conscious effort is made to supply rationales for such disparate outcomes. Typical candidates include: It is actually a gift from God to be born with half a brain, you just lack the capacity to understand his mysterious ways; or, how dare you presume to judge him, you cringing worm?
As for the fact that we live in a universe of extraordinary precision and regularity, I cannot begin to explain how that came to pass. And neither can the religious, other than by a fiat without any empirical backing. I trust that science will gradually push back the limits of our ignorance, but it may be that such matters are beyond human understanding.
Tomorrow, however, we can all be grateful for the wondrous stability and prosperity of America, and for the fact that we live in a society where people no longer kill each other for their religious beliefs or lack thereof.
A THANKSGIVING STORY.
(a true story)
It was a special weekend for us as it is anytime members of the family can make it down to visit.
David, Martha and their three kids had been down from Kansas for the weekend. It was the day they were to be leaving to go back home. And William their ten years old boy had been outside enjoying a Oklahoma Indian summer morning. He was impish is the best way to describe William, always a twinkle in his eyes and a sly grin that could capture your heart.
They were staying at my sister-in-laws and brother-in-laws. He came back into the house on unsteady legs and leaning to one side. “Mommy my head feels weird!”, Martha could see that something was really wrong with her boy. “What do you mean “weird”?”.
“It feels heavy” and suddenly the boy fell to the floor unconscious. My phone rang and my wife woke me up as I had been off duty for about an hour and a half. I was told something was wrong with William and they were having trouble getting a hold of EMS. I talked to my sister-in-law and then went out to my patrol car.
I called the dispatcher and soon we were heading for the district hospital.
******
The next four days was a nightmare, every hour the phone would ring with either the news that William was improving or to be prepare for the worst. Ten years olds are not suppose to be clinging to life and on the edge of death. There is something totally unnatural about it when someone so young is seriously ill.
He had two of the major arties in his brain had grown together and had rupture, It was said it was a miracle he had even survived that. There was damage to his throat and windpipe as at the district hospital they had to put a trac in. But sadly they did not have a small child sized trac and used an adult size that destroy his windpipe.
Finally he was stable enough to be transported back to Kansas and the lasting effects were he is paralyses on his left side and can not use his arm much. From now on his has to be refitted with a trac as the scar tissue grows and his grew into a young man. Just before he was to be transported I went into his room. I tried my best to be upbeat and not give into the natural impulse to break down in tears. Then it happen, he opened his eyes and looked at me. There in those young beautiful eyes was the old tinkle! I could not help it the tears flowed till I thought the room would flood. It was tears of joy, William was still here!
****
Thanksgiving had come and for once in a very long time I found the need to go to the church service in honor of it. When the pastor called for anyone whom had reason to be truly thankful to come forward.
David, Martha and the three kids came up and kneel down. Without thinking about it I too came forward and kneel down beside William and rapped my arm around him. Soon the entire family had closed ranks around him.
Thankful of blessings is easy to do but they can be forgotten when the troubles overshadow them in our minds. And to be angry at God for a ten years old boy having to suffer such a curse is also easy to do.
But there were no blessing could compare to that impish smile and seeing that tinkle in William’s eyes when I thought I would never see them again.
Nice contribution, “writerdog” –
Got me to thinking about other people’s Thanksgivings.
I suspect “ksfarmgrrl’s” dinner will include a bird that used to have a name. “Her life was noble, and all the elements so wrapped up in her that all the world would stand up and say, ‘This was a turkey!’”
I imagine “HLP” is doing the whole Norman Rockwell thing to the point he’ll order the boy over to varnish the bird if it doesn’t come out the exactly-precisely shade of brown.
“Regular” will eat a half-frozen TV dinner at the computer keyboard.
“BlueJay” is seriously considering splitting a can of chunky turkey-noodle soup with his kid, just to keep him humble.
“MaxGrubnik” is already in his sniper’s next to the Interstate where he can take pot shots at turkey leftovers that pass into range.
“okobserver” probably is dipping into the recipe of her legendary rum cream pie.
“Boxlock20” watches one NFL game a year. He’s never seen the Detroit Lions win (or, for that matter, finish) a game due to his triptophan addiction.
“lindainks55” starts making turkey sandwiches before the dishwasher hits its second cycle.
“MaryCaruso” grabs a turkey burger at Spangles after spending the day delivering strained turkey baby food to poor families.
“Chas” is so thankful to and for so many blessings all that’s left when he gets around to eating are those crusty edges of the green bean casserole. (He could afford to skip a meal; but his one?!)
“outlander” isn’t visiting his in-laws and is microwaving a turkey pot pie.
Me? I’m hosting a small orphan Thanksgiving. A turkey breast will feed us all and the 97-year-old lady who lives on my block has been baking homemade rolls she always declares are “failures.” They’re always exquisite but she always says they’re failures. They’re officially known as “Failure Rolls” and the ones she bakes into the size of buns make for perfect sandwiches.
Mr. Brownlee is right. Difficult times help bring a perspective to life. For instance, a big chunk of that retirement nest egg that we were relying on is gone. It was a security blanket, a false security. We had always thought that our institutions were bedrock solid. Now we know they are subject to the errs of men.
But still, the blessings of living in this country are too numerous to mention, and something to truly be thankful for. So are the hard times that make us think.
It is my hope and prayer that this Thanksgiving Day will be an opportunity to bring a new focus on what is really important in life. And help set a new course away from the frantic materialism that has been an ever increasing part of our American culture.
Happy Thanksgiving to all and may God’s blessings be with you.
“…the 97-year-old lady who lives on my block has been baking homemade rolls she always declares are “failures.”
I know how she feels. My rolls came out so-so. My wife did not help any when she got up and took one look and said “Your rolls are beautiful.”
My Cinnamon Roll dough (first batch) just did not work out so they ended up in the trash. In half-an-hour I will know where the second batch will spend the rest of the day.
“MaryCaruso” grabs a turkey burger at Spangles after spending the day delivering strained turkey baby food to poor families.”
LOL!!! That’s not far from the truth!! Actually I will be delivering Thanksgiving meals to my patients who have no one to share with…let’s hope this year I don’t get broadsided by a truck again!
I’m so grateful for my life..and for my cancer experience. It helped me to understand how fleeting, beautiful, and precious life is and that the only thing that matters are the people you love who love you back.
I’m grateful for my nursing career, that I have the privilege of serving and making a positive difference in the lives of others and at the same time being in a profession that’s about as recession proof as it gets.
But most of all, I’m grateful for my husband, who is my best friend and has helped me to appreciate the world in a way I never would have had I never met him. Dave has always encouraged me and given me the confidence to take on life’s risks and push myself in ways I never thought I could or would have, has loved me unconditionally through all the bad times as well as the good, and has been my rock, my security, and my strenght for the last 37 years.
I’m so lucky and I truly appreciate that fact.
Hey Mary, we’re pretty damn lucky to have you here on this blog! And I’m pretty damn lucky to count you as a friend.
LOL!!! That’s not far from the truth!! Actually I will be delivering Thanksgiving meals to my patients who have no one to share with…let’s hope this year I don’t get broadsided by a truck again!
Don’t forget to save back a little turkey for yourselves, Mary! Just sayin’.
But there are a lot of drunken idiots on the roads during the holidays, alas. Watch yourself.
“lindainks55” starts making turkey sandwiches before the dishwasher hits its second cycle.”
—–
Monkeyhawk,
You met me ONCE, but together with reading here have me figured out to a “T.” I am a planner extraordinaire.
The multi-dish meal will be ready when planned because I actually write out a schedule! I know the bird must be out of the oven by ____, so its juice can be used for the stuffing and gravy, which require ___ time to prepare. There will be no rush at the end more than the mashing of the potatoes and placing the perfectly timed dishes on the hot pads (carefully planned and placed in advance). The leaves were put in the table yesterday, the chairs scattered about the house moved into the dining room, the linens and silverware counted and sitting on the BIG table so the granddaughters can practice their table setting skills. The hot dishes will be served hot, the cold dishes have been prepared in advance and only need to be removed from the refrigerator.
I even have a file with past year’s schedules and menus filed away for reference.
I am a fuss budget, aren’t I?
Over the years I have become a little less rigid. I now understand the oldest daughter and hubby are going to watch carefully (actually, they’ve checked the schedule) so they can be there to nibble on the crusty skin when the bird comes out of that oven. They really don’t care if they are in my way. (I added this to my schedule…) My son in law is going to load the dishwasher! Done all wrong and probably means running it three times instead of two, but he is not going to go sit down while I do that. In fact, he insists I go sit down! ;-)
Happy thanksgiving everyone! I hope you have someone to love and someone who loves you too. I hope your day is exactly what makes you happiest and that you remember to be thankful for your abundance.
I imagine “HLP” is doing the whole Norman Rockwell thing to the point he’ll order the boy over to varnish the bird if it doesn’t come out the exactly-precisely shade of brown.
______________________________________________
hehehehe
We actually have a framed print of Norman Rockwell’s painting, “Freedom From Want” hanging above the buffet in our dining room! It reminds us to be grateful all year long!
The(B)oy will be over later to spend the day with us. We’re going next door to eat with our neighbors. Later this afternoon, if it’s still nice and not too windy I may hook Samuel up to the surrey and give rides around the lake to the neighbors.
We are truly blessed in this country! I wish all to have a happy Thanksgiving and contentment on this day.
Monkey,
Got a kick out of your visualizations of others Thanksgivings, funny…and actually not that far fetched in some cases I imagine, at least figuratively.
You nailed me with the NFL football games, I’ll probably be watching the Outdoor Channel more than football, if even conscious. Because with the obscene quantity of turkey I’ll probably ingest, (Turkey contains contains triptophan by the way, which may induce a sleepy feeling), and other fixings I’ll be out cold in a chair from all that naturally ingested tryptophan.
On this day my hope is we can ‘bury the hatchet’, but not in each others backs, and wish each other a Very Happy Thanksgiving!
“On this day my hope is we can ‘bury the hatchet’, but not in each others backs, and wish each other a Very Happy Thanksgiving!”
OH: HAVE A VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!!
We will have a nice, multicourse dinner with my sister, her family, and my father. The rest are scattered to the four winds for dinners with in inlaws or living far away. I will eat too much, laugh not nearly enough, and try to share in the love that goes around.
May each of you, in whatever way you choose, rejoice in the things that you do have, at least for a day not worry about the things that you do not, or worry about not having soon, due to changed lives or finances, and Have a great Thanksgving.
Peace be upon you and yours
Littlejohn
From My utmost for his highest by Oswald Chambers
1. Thank God for our salvation!
By the grace of God I am what I am His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15: 10
“The way we continually talk about our own inability is an insult to the Creator. … Get into the habit of examining in the sight of God the things that sound humble before men, and you will be amazed at how staggeringly impertinent they are. ‘Oh, I shouldn’t like to say I am sanctified; I’m not a saint.’ Say that before God; and it means—‘No, Lord, it is impossible for You to save and sanctify me; there are chances I have not had; so many imperfections in my brain and body; no, Lord, it isn’t possible.’ That may sound wonderfully humble before men, but before God it is an attitude of defiance.
“Again, the things that sound humble before God may sound the opposite before men. To say—‘Thank God, I know I am saved and sanctified,’ is in the sight of God the acme of humility, it means you have so completely abandoned yourself to God that you know He is true. Never bother your head as to whether what you say sounds humble before men or not, but always be humble before God, and let Him be all in all.” (November 30)
2. Thank God for His strength in our weakness!
“All my fresh springs shall be in Thee.” Psalm 87:7
“Our Lord never patches up our natural virtues, He remakes the whole man on the inside. … The life God plants in us develops its own virtues, not the virtues of Adam but of Jesus Christ. Watch how God will wither up your confidence in natural virtues after sanctification, and in any power you have, until you learn to draw your life from the reservoir of the resurrection life of Jesus.
“Thank God if you are going through a drying-up experience! The sign that God is at work in us is that He corrupts confidence in the natural virtues, because they are not promises of what we are going to be, but remnants of what God created man to be. We will cling to the natural virtues, while all the time God is trying to get us into contact with the life of Jesus Christ which can never be described in terms of the natural virtues.
“It is the saddest thing to see people in the service of God depending on that which the grace of God never gave them, depending on what they have by the accident of heredity. God does not build up our natural virtues and transfigure them, because our natural virtues can never come anywhere near what Jesus Christ wants. No natural love, no natural patience, no natural purity can ever come up to His demands. But as we bring every bit of our bodily life into harmony with the new life which God has put in us, He will exhibit in us the virtues that are characteristic of the Lord Jesus.” (December 30)
3. “Thank God for difficulties!
“Enter ye in at the strait gate . . . : because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way…” Matthew 7:13-14
“If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all noble things are difficult. The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but the difficulty of it does not make us faint and cave in, it rouses us up to overcome. Do we so appreciate the marvellous salvation of Jesus Christ that we are our utmost for His highest?
“God saves men by His sovereign grace through the Atonement of Jesus; He works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure; but we have to work out that salvation in practical living. If once we start on the basis of His Redemption to do what He commands, we find that we can do it. If we fail, it is because we have not practised. The crisis will reveal whether we have been practising or not.
“If we obey the Spirit of God and practise in our physical life what God has put in us by His Spirit, then when the crisis comes, we shall find that our own nature as well as the grace of God will stand by us. Thank God He does give us difficult things to do! … Jesus is bringing many ’sons unto glory,’ and God will not shield us from the requirements of a son. … It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the noble life of a disciple of Jesus in actual things.” (July 7)
gobble gobble
4. Thank God we belong to Him!
“Ye are not your own Know ye not that. . . ye are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:19
“There is no such thing as a private life—‘a world within the world’—for a man or woman who is brought into fellowship with Jesus Christ’s sufferings. God breaks up the private life of His saints, and makes it a thoroughfare for the world on the one hand and for Himself on the other.
“No human being can stand that unless he is identified with Jesus Christ. We are not sanctified for ourselves, we are called into the fellowship of the Gospel, and things happen which have nothing to do with us, God is getting us into fellowship with Himself. Let Him have his way, if you do not, instead of being of the slightest use to God in His Redemptive work in the world, you will be a hindrance….
“The first thing God does with us is to get us based on rugged Reality until we do not care what becomes of us individually as long as He gets His way for the purpose of His Redemption. Why shouldn’t we go through heartbreaks? Through these doorways God is opening up ways of fellowship with His Son.
“Most of us fall and collapse at the first grip of pain; we sit down on the threshold of God’s purpose and die away of self-pity, and all so-called Christian sympathy will aid us to our death-bed. But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of His Son, and says—‘Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine.’
“If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart.” (November 1)
5. Thank God for working into us the nature of Jesus!
“Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?” Luke 24:26
“Our Lord’s Cross is the gateway into His life: His Resurrection means that He has power now to convey His life to me. When I am born again from above, I receive from the risen Lord His very life. Our Lord’s Resurrection destiny is to bring ‘many sons unto glory.’ … His resurrection means for us that we are raised to His risen life, not to our old life. One day we shall have a body like unto His glorious body, but we can know now the efficacy of His resurrection and walk in newness of life. ‘I would know Him in the power of His resurrection.’ … Thank God it is gloriously and majestically true that the Holy Ghost can work in us the very nature of Jesus if we will obey Him.” (April 8)
6. Thank God for our sanctification!
“This is the will of God, even your sanctification.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3
“It is not a question of whether God is willing to sanctify me; is it my will? Am I willing to let God do in me all that has been made possible by the Atonement? Am I willing to let Jesus be made sanctification to me, and to let the life of Jesus be manifested in my mortal flesh? Beware of saying—‘Oh, I am longing to be sanctified.’ You are not, stop longing and make it a matter of transaction— ‘Nothing in my hands I bring.’ Receive Jesus Christ to be made sanctification to you in implicit faith, and the great marvel of the Atonement will be made real in you. …
“My attitude as a saved and sanctified soul is that of profound humble holiness (there is no such thing as proud holiness), a holiness based on agonizing repentance and a sense of unspeakable shame and degradation; and also on the amazing realization that the love of God commended itself to me…. No wonder Paul says nothing is ‘able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’
“Sanctification makes me one with Jesus Christ, and in Him one with God, and it is done only through the superb Atonement of Christ. Never put the effect as the cause. The effect in me is obedience and service and prayer, and is the outcome of speechless thanks and adoration for the marvelous sanctification wrought out in me because of the Atonement.” (October 20)
7. Thank God for the pressure of His hand!
“Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me.” Matthew 11:29.
“’Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth.’ How petty our complaining is! Our Lord begins to bring us into the place where we can have communion with Him, and we groan and say—‘Oh Lord, let me be like other people!’ Jesus is asking us to take one end of the yoke—‘My yoke is easy, get alongside Me and we will pull together.’
“Are you identified with the Lord Jesus like that? If so, you will thank God for the pressure of His hand. “To them that have no might He increaseth strength.” God comes and takes us out of our sentimentality, and our complaining turns into a psalm of praise. The only way to know the strength of God is to take the yoke of Jesus upon us and learn of Him. ‘The joy of the Lord is your strength.’
“Where do the saints get their joy from? If we did not know some saints, we would say— ‘Oh, he, or she, has nothing to bear.’ Lift the veil. The fact that the peace and the light and the joy of God are there is proof that the burden is there too. The burden God places squeezes the grapes and out comes the wine; most of us see the wine only. No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God in a human spirit, it is an inner unconquerableness. If you have the whine in you, kick it out….” (April 14)
8. Thank God for His grace & victory!
“Now thanks be to God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 2:14
“The viewpoint of a worker for God must not be as near the highest as he can get, it must be the highest. Be careful to maintain strenuously God’s point of view, it has to be done every day, bit by bit; don’t think on the finite. No outside power can touch the viewpoint. The viewpoint to maintain is that we are here for one purpose only, viz., to be captives in the train of Christ’s triumphs. We are not in God’s showroom, we are here to exhibit one thing—the absolute captivity of our lives to Jesus Christ…..
“Paul’s secret joy was that God took him, a red-handed rebel against Jesus Christ, and made him a captive, and now that is all he is here for. Paul’s joy was to be a captive of the Lord, he had no other interest in heaven or on earth. … The Victor ought to have got us so completely that it is His victory all the time, and we are more than conquerors through Him. ‘For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ.’” (October 24)
9. Thank God for enabling us to live for Him!
“?Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31
“The natural creation and the creation of grace work together, and what we are apt to call the sordid things, laboring with our hands, and eating and drinking, have to be turned into spiritual exercises by obedience, then we shall ‘eat and drink, and do all to the glory of God….
“‘Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit’ … the handiwork of God, and it is in these bodies we are to find satisfaction, and that means strenuousness. Every power of mind and heart should go into the strenuousness of turning the natural into the spiritual by obeying the word of God regarding it. If we do not make the natural spiritual, it will become sordid; but when we become spiritual, the natural is shot through with the glory of God.”
good day; good luck; god bless —-
whatever you conceive god to be!!
blessings to ALL on Thanksgiving Day!!
so mote it be!!
I wish you all (and I do mean all) a happy Thanksgiving, a wonderful nap after dinner and turkey sandwiches and leftover pie tomorrow!
Me? I’ll be picking up my true love in about two hours and heading for a potluck feast at my church, where we’ll all show God our appreciation for the blessings he’s bestowed on us (including that really big one, the Obama win) by revelling in the deadly sin of gluttony, and wondering if He’s looking down on us today and muttering “They just don’t get it! They just don’t GET it!”
““Thank God for difficulties!”
Yeah thanks a lot for those. Also for the three religious nuts that just stirred up my dogs.
Next time maybe just send a card.
I’m thankful for friends who choose to be there …just because… and not out of some sort of sense of divine assignment. I’m thankful also for the results of the recent election. I am mindful of friends discriminated against and will not forget them. I know that while I have little, there are many who have less, or nothing. I won’t forget them either.
Happy Thanksgiving, Jay.
“Nathaniel” –
All your cut & post pietistic posturing would be more impressive if I suspected for a moment you might have read all that.
Now get over to your daddy’s place, boy. There’s a turkey that need varnishing.
I am thankful that you and other atheist supported the only Christian and church member for president.
Nathan,
How are we supposed to hold our forks now? We’ve got blisters on our index fingers from scrolling through all that tripe!
“Still, there many reasons to be thankful. And struggles can sometimes focus the mind and heart on what really matters – such as our loved ones, faith and traditions.”
An received an email from my daughter today. It should be clear why I feel I have so much to be thankful for in my family, as I am blessed. My daughter is head medical person at an indigent health clinic and an instructor for a state university medical program.
I am so thankful to have her, as well as all my family, in my life and wanted to share with others.
“It was an incredible experience to be with Romney as he died. He was a very bright interesting guy (47 years old). I met him right after he had arrived to (city) from Philadelphia where he had been a street musician for years. He would tell me all about various genres of music, jazz, Christian, opera, etc. He was grateful for every moment of his life right up to the moment he died (pancreatic cancer).
He was almost completely unresponsive on Sunday when I went to see him that afternoon. I just knew right away that I couldn’t leave him because the thought of him dying alone was just too much. About five minutes before he died, he opened his eyes wide and grabbed my hands. It was a very panicked looked so I just stood right over him and reassured him that he wasn’t alone. It is a profound experience to be with someone when they die. It seemed very different in many ways than when grandpa died because Romney wasn’t surrounded by his family. It was the two of us alone in this room so I felt a great responsibility to support him fully. I’ve been surprised at the level of sadness I’ve felt over the last few days. When the hospice nurse arrived after his death, she asked me if I knew who (my daughter name) was since Romney had told her several times that he had no possessions of value or significance other than his guitar and that it was his only wish that my family take the guitar. It meant a lot for me to take the guitar home and show the kids.
The Day Center definitely provides opportunities for me that I’ve never had before. There was a very short article on Romney in the newsletter that went out the day he died. I will forward it to you if I still have it on my computer.”
She remained with her patient until the mortuary came an removed his body.
Romney, also left a small amount of money to her, she donated it to the clinic.
Yes, I have much to be thankful for.
HAPPY TANKGIVEN’ TO EVERYONE!!! EAT LOTTSA TURKEY, STUFFIN’, SMASHED TATERS, PUNKIN’ PIE, GREENBEAN SALADS AND A BEER OR THREE.
NATHAN, REMEMBER TO BREATH DEEP BETWEEN PRAYERS . . .YER TURNIN’A BIT PURPLE THERE:-)
Jed,
It is not tripe to many who do give thanks to God.
Happy Thanksgiving.
God Bless
That post was mine.
Nathan
Nathan,
Sorry, it’s still tripe. Try writing your own instead of someone else’s copied & pasted, and the fewer words you can use to express a thought, the better.
No snark. I’ve got a turducken in the oven and I am thankful that we live close enough to the hospital just in case we all get food poisoning.
I’m thankful for the weather…76 degrees and partly cloudy. It’s only 10:00 AM so we might even be able to get to the beach today.
I’m thankful how God led me to my true love after I had to kiss so many frogs! Every good gift is from above.
I’m thankful that I found my passion…in the ocean is where I feel at home. And every day that I learn something new, it makes me want to learn about 5 other new things. I’m thankful for the ability to be curious for curiosity’s sake, a wonderful and uniquely human trait.
We’ll wait to have our Thanksgiving dinner until evening. Grandkids are visiting the other sets of grandparents this afternoon, and half of the daughters are with in-laws. I promised to never insist my family be at OUR holiday celebrations when they married, so we work around everyone. My own mother has been gone since April, and I’m sure she’s watching over, while I fix the turkey “wrong”, and shaking her head. :)
My thoughts today are with those who have experienced a loss in their lives and hearts lately, expecially VT and my best friend, Gail.
I’m thankul to whom or whatever (choose your own diety) for my family and friends, including those I’ve met here who I agree and disagree with. We are all a part of one.
Happy Thanksgiving 2008, WEBloggers!
Ah, Tara, I wish I was there to share the ocean with you, but, alas, it’s landlocked Kansas for me. :)
I have a cousin who lives in Hawaii and is, I think, involved some way in marine biology. I’ve often wondered if the two of you have met. Her name is Mary Carolyn, but she probably goes by Carolyn now, and I have no idea what her married name is. I haven’t seen her for years.
Best wishes to all for a Happy Thanksgiving.
Pre, thank you for your thoughts in my family’s behalf today. Indulging myself for a moment, this Thanksgiving is the first one in 38 years without my wife, but so far, so good. Lindsay and I are having a quiet day, staying busy with things necessary, and in that way, are keeping ourselves occupied.
Enough of that! If y’all were here, the beer (a necessary part of the Plymouth Thanksgiving of 1621) would be on me.
Happy T-day, everybody!
And VT, I am so sorry. If I were there I’d drink beer with you until you yelled uncle, if it would help.
God speed, and please take care.
Brownlee means, of course, only that faith and those traditions acceptable to the rabid secularists in the msm.
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We were missing a few but had some great family time anyway. The turkey is kicking in and everyone is napping except the kids who haven’t slowed down at all.
We decided as a family this year not to exchange gifts for Christmas but to adopt a family and give them what we would have spent on ourselfs. I need some names of organizations who have families in need.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. I was amazed at the response of the kids to the idea.
Happy Turkey Day!
Chad came home and surprised me! I never suspected when Tonya said we couldn’t eat until 3ish as her hubby had commitments… Chad’s plane arrived at 2:10! Such a happy surprise! Now if only we weren’t missing those two grandsons in schools far away. We will video chat later, all crowding around the computer to say our hellos and have a visit via cyberspace.
Oh shut up Bryan.
Linda, my dear friend, I hope you have a very nice weekend.
avtolle, very nice to see you here.
okob – my best suggestion here in Wichita would be Anthony Family Shelter – Catholic Charities. Another idea – buy their Angel Christmas ornaments to send to family/friends out of town.
VT – best wishes during this difficukt holiday time. I know you are in many peoples’ thoughts and prayers.
Thanks Ben. I have worked with Catholic Charities but never knew about Anthony Family Shelter. I will check into it tomorrow.
okob —- happy thnksgiving!!
St. Paul Lutheran Church(925 N. Waco)
United Methodist Open Door
Catholic Charities
Salvation Army Main Corps — North Market
Bob Dole Veterans Administration
Senior Services Center (200 S. Walnut)
Thats a start of the ones I have worked with in past years…. Good Luck!! Happy Holidays!!
Pmom,
Oh common, celebrate my diversity this Thanksgiving Day. Or at least tolerate me.
Or are you just prickly ’cause the Pilgrims would have given you a ride on the old cucking-stool?
I’m sure you’d like to bring those days back, Bryan, along with the Salem Witch Trials. Thank goodness our FOUNDING FATHERS were mostly Deists and the Pilgrims didn’t get to make our constitution.
If only the schools would give the real story of coming to America.
I didn’t see you celebrating Phillip’s diversity up above. You get what you give.
“You can blame your sins on your family,
A woman, or a broken home,
But on Judgement day, when it is time to pay,
You’ll standing there alone.”
Angry Johnny and the Killbillies
To Okobserver and anyone else interested in helping folks during December, the Eagle will list the situations for some people who have requested Christmas help for their families; especially with all the layoffs that are happening, there will probably be more folks than usual in need of aid. This is done through the Wichita Community Foundation and they help as many people as they can with the donations that come in. If a particular family situation really moves you, you could request to have that one to help. The phone # is 264-4880 for more explicit information.
Pmom,
Not bad.
I’ll get started early.
Happy Winter Soltice and Kwaanza to you and the Eagle.
“We decided as a family this year not to exchange gifts for Christmas but to adopt a family and give them what we would have spent on ourselfs. I need some names of organizations who have families in need. ” — grannie
Another con brags/lies about generosity.
beber,
Holy Cross Lutheran Church always has many needy families that they ‘adopt’ at this time of year and ask for help in meeting their Christmas needs. The families seem very grateful.
Call the Church office and inquire, or email. They will have the families listed, with details and the names and ages of the children. You can pick a family you feel most drawn to and do whatever you feel is appropriate. It makes for some happy children and grateful parents.
Holy Cross Lutheran Church
http://www.holycrosslutheran.net
600 N Greenwich Rd
Wichita, KS 67206
(316) 684-5201
Thanks Boxlock that is a good idea. The kids want to know more about the family they are adopting than we have in the past. We adopted thru the Mental Health Association before and you don’t know much about the family you are given other than how many in the family.
Sorry, “okobserver” –
That sounds close to wanting to gloat over your gift.
I kinda understand the instinct. But what if your family’s gift goes to someone whose life choices repel you? What if you discover the recipient of your charitable largess goes to a woman who’s chosen to have many abortions? What if the kids your money buy toys for happened to choose the wrong parents?
What if the person your charity chooses to apply your gift happens to be an illegal alien or a (gasp!) Muslim?!
If you want to go out and give your charitable gift to someone you can keep tabs on, go out and find that someone yourself. Go to a bad neighborhood and knock on doors. And follow up with more than money, but mentorship and friendship and a helping hand year ’round rather than simply dropping some cash on some charity and demanding to monitor how every penny is spent.
Do like that “Secret Santa” in Kansas City who died last year. The select few who knew him have kept up his holiday tradition. He simply walked around and gave someone who caught his eye a $100 bill. He never asked what they did with the money; he didn’t care. If they caught his eye and he felt like giving away another C-note, he handed it to ‘em and kept on walking.
They estimated he gave away half a million dollars over the past decade or so.
okobserver,
Ignore the Monkey…I’m sure he never does anything for anybody anyway but finds a way to criticizes others no matter what they do.
I checked a little closer, as I could not remember the details completely. The family listings at Holy Cross do not give names, just the size of the family and the ages of the children, and what they need, or what the children ‘hope’ Santa or a ‘Good Samaritan’ will bring them. The gifts are turned into the Church, and held for that particular family unit. Volunteers then deliver them to the designated family’s home before Christmas along with a well wishing note from the giver or giving family if desired. Many giving families make it a family affair, shopping for the family they adopt and having their own children help with the whole project. It is a good thing for all involved. Some will include a food donation as well as the children’s Christmas gifts to help with that also.
They would love to have to help, including deliver if you so desire. The families names I believe are already on tables just outside the Sanctuary of the Church, there are lots. Stroll down the table check the families, pick one and jump on board to help.