A Turkey-less Thanksgiving

From the Storm Bulletin, Nov. 26, 2008

Thanksgiving is a distinctly North American holiday, so you can imagine that trying to celebrate it overseas was often challenging. Buying a frozen Butterball in the grocery store was hardly an option! Of course, that didn't stop us from celebrating, even though our school in Uganda, being an international school, didn't break from school on Thanksgiving. We often would invite our Ugandan friends over in the evening or on the following Saturday to celebrate with us, introducing them to the least secularized of American "religious" holidays. Our second Thanksgiving in Uganda was the most interesting. We had purchased a very large turkey, planning to have many guests. Stacy began the usual process of thawing the big bird in the refrigerator several days before Thanksgiving. This, unfortunately, was about the time that our power decided to go out. And, since the power company was not particularly concerned about our turkey or Thanksgiving, they were in no apparent hurry to get the electricity back on. So, as you can imagine, the turkey flew south, and we were left wondering what to feed our friends. Stacy, being ever the resourceful missionary, put together a wonderful beef stew with biscuits meal, and, since Ugandans aren’t terribly fond of turkey anyway, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We laughed and talked and thanked God for all of his provisions, though most in the room had almost nothing in the line of material possessions, especially compared to what we have here. Of course, it helped that we still had homemade pumpkin pie for dessert. It also helped that we didn’t have to watch the Lions, who were bad even eight years ago.

As you celebrate Thanksgiving this year with your family and friends, remember that we do not have to be comfortable to be thankful. We do not have to have what we want or be with family and friends. We simply need to have a heart full of thanksgiving to God for who he is and for how much he loves us. And a nice beef stew with biscuits meal enjoyed by a turkey-less group of Ugandans is a great reminder of how much God loves us and what is really important in life.

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving, giving thanks to the Lord, our God and King, whose love endures forever! We have MUCH to be thankful for!