The kids were excited as they crossed the river to meet Dave at the campfire. Since Thanksgiving was coming up this week, Dave had promised them a Thanksgiving treat! They could hardly wait; they wondered if they were going to have turkey cooked over the campfire or maybe a pumpkin pie baked in the great outdoors. When they got to the campfire they were surprised! The only food that Dave had for them was in a large bowl. They could not see what was in the bowl, but they were curious.
Dave showed them that the large bowl was filled with chocolate pudding! The kids were confused; what does chocolate pudding have to do with the Thanksgiving holiday? Dave told them that one year when he was leading a junior high/middle school youth group he decided to have a Thanksgiving Feast. This was not going to be an ordinary feast with turkey, ham, stuffing, pies and cranberry sauce. The kids were going to get to plan the feast, cook the feast, and invite their parents to come and eat the feast!
A week before the feast, Dave met with the kids and the kids talked about what food they wanted to fix for their parents. Dave encouraged them to choose food that they liked. After a lot of discussion (and some arguments) the kids decided that they wanted to fix macaroni & cheese, frozen pizzas, chips, pop, cake, pie, and chocolate pudding! They agreed to keep the food choices secret, they wanted their parents to be surprised!
The day of the feast Dave took the kids to the grocery store, and Dave discovered that this was not such a good idea! The kids ran up and down the aisles looking for the food they needed, they pushed each other in shopping carts, they were loud and obnoxious, and they generally disturbed the whole store! Eventually all the food was found and paid for, and the group went to their kitchen to prepare the feast.
The main course was going to be the macaroni & cheese. The kids had bought about ten boxes of macaroni & cheese along with butter and milk to make it. They also had five frozen pizzas, three cake mixes, two pie crusts along with two cans of pie filling. The big surprise was going to be the chocolate pudding! They had bought enough boxes of pudding mix to fill the largest bowl they could find!
They all worked together during the afternoon, and Dave helped them to prepare all the food. It was hard to time everything so that the food was all done at the right time, but they did it! All the parents came when it was time to eat, and they were expecting a traditional Thanksgiving Feast! They were surprised! There was no turkey in sight! When the parents saw the food that the kids had prepared, at first some of them did not want to eat it, but they were hungry so eventually they gave in and ate the food. They were surprised, the food was actually good, the kids had done a good job!
Dave said that the kids and the parents had learned something very special at that feast. The Thanksgiving holiday is not about turkey and stuffing, pumpkin pie or cranberries. Thanksgiving is about being thankful for what God has given us, even when things are not going well. Too often we have made the holiday into a contest to see who can cook the best or who can eat the most. It should not be like this!
In the Bible in I Thessalonians 5:18 it says:
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
Too often we compare what we have with what other people have, and we get depressed or angry because there is always someone who appears to have a better life than we do. When we compare ourselves to others, we end up not noticing the blessings that God has given to us! God gives good gifts to all His children, and believers have even more blessings now and especially in the future!
In the Bible in James 1:17-18 it says:
So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us His true word. And we, out of all creation, became His prized possession.
Take time to think about the blessings God has given to you and become truly thankful!