At one time when I was growing up, our family had very little.  My father had been laid off and could not find work.  As a mechanic he could do work on the side to make a little money, and he did that as often as possible.  After a few months, our phone service was disconnected, then our power was turned off, things got very difficult. 

We heated our house with a wood stove, and we cut wood on our property and the neighbors allowed us to cut on theirs as well.  So we were always warm.  Hauling water was difficult.  You see we lived in the country in Rural Northwest Arkansas.  The closest town was called Omaha and had a population of 391 (yes I mean Omaha, AR). 

This period lasted for 2-3 years.  Different friends would help us by letting us borrow a generator for a time, sometimes people would give my dad money, and some friends would even give us food.  We were blessed to have many friends who could cared about us.  There was one Thanksgiving during this time when we had very little, and in the end we felt so richly blessed. 

I think I was in 7th or 8th Grade.  Dad was slightly depressed because we had no money with the holidays approaching.  We all tried to be positive and say things like gifts, feasts, and such were not what was important, we would be together and that is what mattered…  I remember a few days before Thanksgiving Day, dad shared with the whole family that we did not have money for a Turkey and a big feast on Thanksgiving Day.  Also we did not have the money to drive to Texas to celebrate with other family like we did often at Thanksgiving. 

Dad said we should pray that God would provide for our Thanksgiving Day, but we all knew that it was going to be a little different than normal.  So we prayed. 

The next day we noticed that there was a lot of heavy truck traffic on the dirt road that bordered our property.  Later that afternoon we were completely surprised when two very large white Turkeys wandered into our yard.  What had happened was that several miles down that dirt road were several Turkey Farmers.  They had huge Turkey and Chicken houses for the Tyson’s food company.  The Turkeys had matured and were being transported by the thousand past our house to the processing plant.  One of the doors on one cage on one truck had popped open and two Turkey’s had escaped. 

Those Turkey’s had gone up the hill, through our woods, and into our front yard a few days before Thanksgiving.  We were blown away.  We prayed for God’s provision for Thanksgiving and he provided for Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

I know that for many of us it is always hard to trust that God knows our needs and is willing to meet those needs.  I know that it does not always work out the way that we want it to, but this Thanksgiving think about all of the things that you have that you don’t need, and Praise God for his provision. 

Living in Mexico really gives us different perspective on what we “need” and what we want.  You would be surprised to know that you don’t need all of the things in your life.  If your life suddenly changed and you didn’t have your large TV, your soft Couch, your down comforters, your huge refrigerators, your late model cars, and the many other things like; Xbox’s, laptop’s, ipods, closets full of clothes you never wear…  you would realize that you don’t need those things to live.  Sure they make life easier, most of the time, but you don’t “need” them. 

This Thanksgiving give to someone in need.  This holiday season take some time to find ways to make this season special to someone who you know is having a difficult time, who knows maybe you will be the answer to their prayers.  God Bless!

Chad