It was the day before Thanksgiving and Joan was feeling stretched to her limit on so many levels. This would be the first Thanksgiving that she and her three children would be spending without John, her husband and their father. He had left several months before for parts and people unknown. Joan knew it had been a bad relationship for quite some time, especially after he lost his job when the factory closed. That’s when he started drinking and beating her and the kids. She knew they were all better off without him, but, still, her memories of their prior fun-filled family Thanksgivings made her thoughts of this upcoming one turn her mood into an even more melancholy one. That coupled with the fact that her two young children had come down with the flu this week and were now feverishly bedridden had put Joan at her wits end. She felt as bad as the cold, gray, wet day that enveloped her as she sat in their squalid rental. She felt abandoned; not only by John, but by the God she had once worshipped. But her feeling of being alone and hopeless was about to change.
She had started her morning waking early to sounds of her children’s cries. She comforted them with hugs and then went to the kitchen to prepare their bottles. Opening the refrigerator she noted that they were out of milk. Then going to the bathroom she found that there were no diapers either. Despondent, she began rummaging through the house in a desperate search for spare change, even breaking into her children’s piggy bank. Her effort yielded her only $4.79. That might be enough for milk, but what about diapers and what about food? She sat at her kitchen table sobbing. “Thanksgiving? Thanks for what?” she thought. Then she forced herself to compose herself and to gather the courage to fight the wind and icy rain that she would have to walk through to get to the closest supermarket that was located over a mile away. She knew she shouldn’t be out walking in this weather, but the only reason John had left the car that sat in their front yard was because it didn’t run. It needed a new transmission, and Joan knew that it would be easier for her to fly to the moon than to scrape together the money to needed fix it so it lay abandoned and unfixed…just like she and her kids. Then the phone rang.
It was the secretary from her former church. The one Joan had stopped attending when she has lost her hope and faith. The secretary said that the congregation had been thinking of her and praying for her family and that she had something to give her. “Can I come by right now and drop it off?” she asked. Joan replied that she was just getting ready to walk to the supermarket because the kids really needed their morning milk. “Can you come later?” she asked with her voice trembling. “You can’t go out in this weather. I’ll be there in five minutes and take you to there,” came the reply. Before Joan could say anything, the secretary hung up.
When she arrived and Joan got into her car, the secretary handed Joan an envelope repeating what she said on the phone, “Joan, we know you haven’t been worshipping with us lately, but we think about you and your kids often and you remain in our thoughts and prayers. We know you are going through a terrible time and surely feel alone, but we want you to know that we love you and God does too.” When Joan opened the envelop, she found two grocery certificates inside. Each was worth $20.00. Joan was so touched and moved, she sobbed throughout the short drive to the market. When they arrive, Joan hugged the secretary and said, “Thank you very much. You don’t know how much this means to me and my kids. Please give our love and thanks to the church. We’ll be there for Sunday’s service and I’ll see you then.” “Oh no,” the secretary said, “I’m waiting right here until you’re through shopping. Then I’ll drive you home.”
As she walked toward the store entry, Joan felt none of the worldly cold that surrounded her. She was warmed by the return of that feeling of thankfulness that been gone from her heart for so long.
At the checkout counter Joan’s grocery total was a little over $14.00. She handed the cashier one of the certificates. She took it, then turned her back for what seemed like a very long time. Joan thought something might be wrong. Finally she said, “This certificate is a real blessing. My former church gave it to me this morning. The church secretary is in her car outside waiting for me. I can go get her if you need verification. I’m a single parent and I’m just trying to make ends meet.” Joan felt that familiar sense of desperation coming back into her heart.
The cashier then turned around, with tears in her loving eyes, and replied, “Honey, that’s wonderful! Do you have a turkey?”
“No I don’t, but that’s okay because my children are sick anyway.”
The cashier then asked, “Do you have anything else for Thanksgiving dinner?”
Again, Joan replied, “No.”
After handing her the change from the certificate, the cashier looked into Joan’s eyes and said, “Honey, I can’t tell you exactly why right now, but I want you to go back into the store and get you a big turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and anything else you will need to prepare a proper Thanksgiving dinner.”
Shocked and humbled to tears, Joan asked “Are you sure?”
“Yes, get whatever you want. And get some Gatorade for those sick kids of yours, too!” came the instant reply.
Joan felt awkward as she went back to do more shopping, but she selected a fresh turkey, a few yams, fresh vegetables, dinner rolls, and, of course, Gatorade for the kids. She then wheeled her shopping cart up to the same cashier and began placing her items on the counter. As she looked up with gratitude at the cashier’s face, Joan noticed once more that her kind eyes were flooded with giant tears. Joan handed her the other church certificate and her remaining money, but the cashier shook her head and told her to keep it for another day.
“Honey, now I can tell you why this is happening. This morning I prayed to God that he send me today someone I could help in return for all that I am thankful in my life and, obviously, God sent you to me in answer to my prayer.” She then reached under the counter for her purse, took out the money to pay for the groceries and handed an extra $20.00 bill to Joan. Tear’s now filled both their eyes.
The sweet and generous cashier then said, “You have given me such a blessing by being chosen by God to answer my prayer. Here is my phone number. If you ever need anything, please call me.” She then took Joan’s head in her hands and kissed her cheek, saying, “God bless you, honey, and have a Happy Thanksgiving! You’ve sure helped to make mine a happy one.”
Joan walked out of the store loaded with grocery bags and made her way to the church secretary’s waiting car. She felt overwhelmed by what had happened this day. Her sense of abandonment was totally gone and she felt confident that it would not return. There was no longer any room in her heart for that because it was now filled with the love shown to her by the generous people who were undoubtedly sent to her this day by a loving God that had never forgotten or abandoned her.
This would truly be a special Thanksgiving!
Have an AWE-full Weekend and a blessed and bountiful Giving Thanks!
William J. “Bill” Bacqué