It’s only natural that stressed-out people eat more
desserts, because “stressed” spelled backwards is “desserts.” If that’s true,
there’s a lot of stress between Thanksgiving and New Year.
Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College
“So much has been given to me that I have no time
to ponder that which I don't have.”—Helen Keller
“Giving thanks is not a matter of feeling thankful, it
is a matter of obedience.”—Joni Erickson Tada (she is quadriplegic)
“The pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts—nevertheless, [they] set aside a day of thanksgiving.”—H. W. Westermeyer
“Gratitude is an offering precious in the sight of
God, and it is one that the poorest of us can make and be not poorer but richer
for having made it.”—Unknown
A man had a habit of grumbling at the food his wife placed
before him at family meals. Then he would ask the blessing. One day after his
usual combination complaint-prayer, his little girl asked, “Daddy, does God
hear us when we pray?”
“Why, of course,” he replied. “He hears us every time we pray.”
She paused on this a moment, and asked, “Does He hear everything we say the
rest of the time?”
A visiting farmer stopped at a city restaurant to eat lunch.
When he was served his food he bowed his head and gave thanks to the Lord. Some
teenagers sitting at a nearby table noticed the farmer’s prayer and shouted, “Hey,
pops, back where you come from does everybody pray before they eat?”
Their laughter was silenced when the unmoved farmer
answered, “No, the hogs don’t.”
While
at the grocery store picking up a turkey, little Billy of the Family Circus
told his mother, “Thanksgiving should come AFTER Christmas, then we’d have more
things to be thankful for.”
A little boy was asked to pray for dinner.
Before he bowed his head to pray, he looked at the dish. Then, closing his eyes
he prayed, “Lord, I don’t like the looks of it, but I’ll thank you and eat it
anyway.”
In
today’s politically correct environment where you have to be so careful to keep
from offending anyone, we might all have to give reports like this fourth
grader who reported on the origins of the Thanksgiving holiday. ”The
pilgrims came here seeking freedom of you know what. When they
landed, they gave thanks to you know Who. Because of them, we can
worship each Sunday, you know where.”
The Baptist preacher Dr. George W. Truett accepted an
invitation from a church to preach the dedication sermon for their new
building. He arrived at the church about ten minutes before the service started,
and was told that the church needed to raise $6,500 by the next day in order to
finish paying for the building. The church officers told him that they were
depending on him to raise the money.
Dr. Truett preached the sermon then said, “These men bid me
to tell you that you must give $6,500 in cash, which is all due tomorrow. Will
you provide it?”
When it comes to Thanksgiving, Americans like to begin grazing long
before the big meal begins. The average person consumes about 10% of
their Thanksgiving calories before the turkey is ever served.
A young woman named Anne Steele had encountered one
trial and disappointment after another. Her mother died when she was three, and
when she was nineteen she suffered a severe hip injury that left her an invalid. Eventually she fell in love and was engaged to be
married, but the day before the wedding her fiancé drowned.
In the late 1800’s George Mueller operated an orphanage that at
one time had 1,000 orphans. One morning there was no food to eat, but he called all the children and staff
together and prayed thanking God for the provision of food, even though no
food was on the table. A few moments later a baker knocked on the door. He told Mr. Muller that God had led him to bake bread the night before and give it to the orphanage. Before the bread was given to the children, a milkman knocked on the door. He said that his milk truck had broken down and he wanted to give the milk to the orphanage.
In 1860, the Lady Elgin was rammed by the Augusta and sank in Lake Michigan
near Evanston, Illinois. A ministerial student named Edward Spencer waded again and again into the frigid waters
to rescue passengers. In the process, his health was permanently damaged.
Some years later at his funeral, it was noted that not one of the people he
rescued ever thanked him.
Source: Disasters, Accidents, and Crises in American History,Ballard C. Campbell
On February 27, 1991, during the Desert Storm War, a woman by the name of Ruth Dillow
received the worst call of her life. Her son, Clayton Carpenter, Private First
Class, had stepped on a land mine and was dead. For the next three days she
grieved. No one could comfort her.
On the third day after receiving
the terrible news, the phone rang. On the other end of the phone there was a
voice that said, “Mom, it’s me. I’m alive.” At first she thought it was a cruel
joke, but as the conversation continued, she realized it was her son.
Even though I clutch my blankets
and groan when the alarm rings each morning, thank you, Lord, that I can hear.
There are those who are deaf.
Even though I keep my eyes tightly
closed against the morning light as long as possible, thank you, Lord, that I can
see. There are many who are blind.
Even though I huddle in my bed and
put off the physical effort of rising, thank you, Lord, that I have the
strength to rise. There are many who are bedfast.
