The following is an article that I wrote for Thanksgiving in 2020. For some reason, which I cannot now remember, I did not post it when I wrote it. In it, I did my best to share some of God’s Truth and His Truth is eternal. So, I have decided to post it now. Although I wrote it for Thanksgiving 2020, it is my prayer that God will bless someone through it, as we approach Thanksgiving 2023.
*** Article Written For Thanks Giving 2020 ***
This Thursday is Thanksgiving. For most of us, including me, it should be called “Overeating”. They certainly did a lot of eating at the first Thanksgiving. There is actually quite a bit of debate as to exactly when the first Thanksgiving was and whether it was religious in nature or just celebratory. Regardless of whether God was getting much thanks from the pilgrims then, doesn’t He deserve thanks from all of us now?
First Thessalonians 5:18 says “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”.
I think, in this year especially, this is something we need to be particularly mindful of. In 2020, Thanksgiving is going to be very different for many of us. This whole year has been and will continue to be different than anything we have ever experienced. If we aren’t careful, this will make us forget just how much we do have to be thankful for. And we all do have a lot to be thankful for.
This year, my family is not going to get together for Thanksgiving in the usual way, with our extended family getting together to cook and eat. And eat. Some in our family have underlying health concerns which would put them at extreme risk if they were to get COVID. We, and they, are not comfortable with them being exposed to the rest of us who could unknowingly be carrying COVID. There are others in our family who have been exposed to someone with COVID and so are quarantined and cannot join us because of that. So, rather than having a moderate size group of people, we will have a total of 4 people. We will still get together and cook and eat. And eat. Will it be different? Yes. Do we still have much to be thankful for? Yes, absolutely!
I said that some in our family have underlying health concerns which would put them at extreme risk if they get COVID. One of those people is my dad. He has Myelodysplastic Syndrome, also called MDS, which can be a precursor to certain types of leukemia. In early 2019, he was diagnosed and he was started on chemotherapy, to try to keep the MDS from progressing to leukemia. In late 2019, the chemotherapy started causing problems with his heart and they had to stop it. Then came 2020 and COVID. So, there he is, with a weakened immune system, caused by the chemotherapy which was already administered, but still with MDS, because they were not able to finish the chemotherapy, and we’ve got this monster virus roaming around out there. In other words, he is in the worst possible situation. Or is he?
In 2004, he built his house in this neighborhood, where I live now. When he bought his lot, he also bought the lot two doors down, on which I later built. I am completely blind, in both eyes. I think that he wanted to keep me close to him, so that he could help me. As it turned out, he was helping himself. I am married to a wonderful woman and have some wonderful kids, who get his groceries, mow his yard, and do other things for him that he can no longer do. This is made much easier and practical by the fact that I live just 2 doors down. There was no way, in 2004, that either he or I could have foreseen what the situation would be like 16 years later, in 2020. It came as no surprise to God though, even back then. I believe that God worked things out this way. He does things like that but we so seldom give Him the credit for it.
What about Thanksgiving Day? We aren’t going to be able to spend it with him. Isn’t that terrible? Well, sure, I would have preferred to be able to sit across the table from him. But I can call him and spend some time talking about Thanksgivings past. My youngest son can FaceTime him to show him the latest thing he’s working on in the kitchen with his mom. These are things that no one could have done 100 years ago because the technology, which we today take for granted, did not exist and would have seemed like science fiction. It is tempting to give man the credit for developing that technology. Man just figured out how to harness the laws of physics using those computer chips and other electronic components. Who wrote those laws of physics and who gave man the intellect with which to figure out how to harness them in this way? Technology makes things like this much easier and we have God to thank for that technology.
There is another thing that my family has to be thankful for concerning my dad. That is that he is here with us this Thanksgiving for us to be able to call and FaceTime. Remember, they stopped his Chemo. He has gone back for blood tests every 3 months. His MDS has stayed stable, not worsening any, despite the fact that he is no longer receiving treatment and hasn’t in over a year. We were concerned when they had to stop his chemo. We have done a lot of praying that he would remain stable and he has. It may have actually been better for him this way because, if he were still on chemo, his immune system would be even weaker than it is and he would be more susceptible to COVID. You see, when they stopped his chemo, this was roughly 6 months pre-COVID. Stopping the chemo mostly seemed to us like a bad thing but it turned out to be a good thing. God knew what He was doing. No surprise there.
So, things are bad in this situation and yet things are good in this situation. It’s often that way in life, isn’t it? We left Eden behind long ago and we haven’t yet made it to Heaven, so there are always going to be bad things, more at some times than at others. However, there are always good things too, if you will take the time to look for them. It is God who provides all those good things.
James 1:17 says “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning”.
Chances are pretty good that you have had some negative things happen in your life this year. Despite that, I’m certain that you have some good things in your life, things to be thankful for, too. Sometimes the good things and the bad things are the same things and it’s just a matter of prospective.
I encourage you, take time out from all the eating to thank He who provided all that food and every other thing that is truly good in your life.
*** Update For 2023 ***
Now, here we are, three years later, and we still have bad things and we still have good things. The COVID situation is now pretty much under control, which is good. The overall world geopolitical situation is more unstable than it has been in a very long time, which is bad. My Dad’s MDS is still stable, which is good. He now has dementia, which is bad. Such is life. On and on we go, with both the good and the bad. I am at peace, because I know the One Who has control of it all and I know that I will spend eternity with Him, in a place where the bad will be banished and there will be only good for ever. That place, not this world, is my home. It’s my Dad’s home too. I take comfort in that. Do you have the same comfort? If not, please check out the “The Most Important Thing” section of this website. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and may the peace that only He can give be with you.
