A TIME FOR THANKS

    Do you feel any stress getting ready for Thanksgiving?  Travel plans to be made, packing the clothes, getting the meal together, coping with some family issues you may need to deal with this time of year.  I know for me, that sometimes I get so stressed out about life, and the pressure of a busy schedule that I rarely stop and take time to say “Thank You” to God.  I hate to confess to you that often I stop and try to convince God I need a little more to make my life easier.  I battle an ungrateful spirit instead of giving to God a spirit of thanksgiving.
     This year I am making a daily commitment to honor God by thanking Him for what I do have and not worrying about what I do not have.  Thanking Him for how He has blessed me with an incredible wife to share life with, kids that I love more than I thought I could love anyone, awesome people in my life and I serve the greatest church family on the planet at Olivet.  I have the joy of a personal relationship with Jesus that gives me real life today and the certainty of an eternity with Him.  How could I ask for more… I am truly blessed.
     If you are feeling the blues or thinking your life would be so much better if you had a little more.  I want to share with you what I read a few weeks ago.
   
I'll never forget reading something that economist Robert Heilbroner put together. It was a walk-through of what it would take to transform the average American home into the typical dwelling of the majority of the world's inhabitants.
 
 
 He says we would have to begin by invading the house of our imaginary American family to strip it of its furniture.
Everything goes: beds, chairs, tables, TV, lamps. All that can be left for the family is a few old blankets, a kitchen table, a wooden chair.
When it comes to clothing, each member of the family may keep his oldest suit or dress, and then one shirt or blouse. The head of the family gets a pair of shoes, but not the wife or children.
Then comes the kitchen.
All the appliances would have to come out, and the cabinets would have to be empty. All that it can stay is a box of matches, a small bag of flour, some sugar and salt.
A few moldy potatoes, already in the garbage can, has to be taken back out, for they will provide much of that night's meal. We can add a handful of onions, and a dish of dried beans, but that's all.
Everything else goes: meat, fresh vegetables, canned goods, any crackers or candy. All gone.
But not only do we have to strip the house this way, but we have to dismantle the bathroom, shut off the running water, and take out all electric wires.
Next, we take away the house itself. The family must move to the toolshed.
The things related to communication go. No more newspapers, magazines, books - not that they are missed, since we must also take away the family's literacy.
Instead, all that can be left is one small radio.
Then government services must go. No more mail delivery, no more fire department. There IS a school, but it is three miles away and consists of only two classrooms...
There can't be any hospitals or doctors nearby. The nearest clinic will be ten miles away and tended by no more than a midwife. 9
It can be reached by bicycle, provided that the family has a bicycle, which is unlikely...
Finally, we come to money.
The family can only be allowed a cash hoard of $5.00.
 
“Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done.” Psalm 105: 1 (NIV)
 
     This Thanksgiving Think Thank.  We have so much to be thankful for.
 
Pastor Scott