Thanksgiving Day

Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day. As many Americans would say, it was nice to be together with family and friends, sharing in a sumptious meal that of course included turkey....and plenty of pies! Nice, too, to remember how thankful we are for material provisions and comforts that we often take for granted.

Today is the "day after" and the weather is perfect! I went for a walk, and journeyed back down memory lane. Thanksgiving Day became our family's favorite holiday some 40 years ago. We lived in a small community 90 miles away and my parents and a family of special friends lived here in Kearney. We had grown up loving literature, poetry and such, and felt that our children were missing something because the schools no longer required memorization, or even reading the works of the old 19th century poets. So, we began a tradition....after dinner, everyone have a poem to recite!

I remember my youngest stumbling through

"Engine, engine number 9
Running on the Chicago line
When she's polished, she will shine!
Engine, engine number 9.

Not very literary, you say, but it worked for a 3 year old boy who wasn't very enthused about the whole business. The years came and went. We moved to Kearney, bought our own house, and that year there were poems about a little house. Through the years, there were hilariously funny poems composed and spoken; short poems, sad poems, long poems. We heard "Paul Revere's ride" quoted in full length; Horatious at the Bridge; something long from "Charley and the Chocolate Factory", and many, many others.

My parents grew old and passed away, Dad in 1988 and Mom in 1993. Without their voices, the program was never quite the same, but we kept on for awhile. Things change, though, and move forward. The tradition now is only a fond memory. In recent years, we've seldom all been together. In 2001, I was in Ecuador. The day and the setting is still pictured in my mind, several of us enjoying our meal in the equatorial noonday heat, and probably only myself aware of our holiday. I don't remember what we had to eat, but know it was good. I do remember coconut juice to drink, from the trees in the back yard.

Last year, I was in Ekaterinburg, Russia on Thanksgiving Day. It was my week to cook for my co-worker and myself, and I fixed chicken thighs, mashed potatoes and gravy, a green vegetable and carrot salad. Yum! I still remember how good it tasted. We enjoyed this meal in the tiny kitchen of our 7th floor apartment, and were thankful for our privilege to be there.

Time to move on now and speak of the future! You've asked "what next?" and I've said I didn't know....but now I do know. At least I know the plan! In January I'm to go to Estonia. If you are asking "Where in the world is Estonia?" it is a small country south of Finland, north of Latvia, west of Russia, east of the Baltic Sea. Like Latvia, it was a part of the Soviet Union until that fell. It is now a part of the European Union.

Why Estonia? I didn't choose it. It was chosen for me, and I am thankful. Sometimes I think of the verse, Ezekial 22:30, and of God looking for one to "stand in a gap", to"make up a hedge". We can think of God seeing needs everywhere, looking for someone who can fit in, knowing exactly where they can fit in, knowing where they couldn't; knowing what each is able for. Then there is His promise of provision and of strength. I wouldn't want to chose for myself, but I'm deeply thankful, humbly greatful, to have been chosen. "I would be true to all He has committed unto my trust..."