Thanksgiving was my dad’s favorite holiday. While the rest of the family favored Christmas, he always loved Thanksgiving. One of those reasons was likely rooted in his profession as a farmer, and Thanksgiving was the natural culmination of his year-long efforts. Many of those years were difficult because the weather didn’t fully cooperate. And then there were others where we experienced a “bumper crop.” Those years were few but always a welcome gift.
In the midst of all of those rough years, my dad was always grateful … bumper crop or severe drought. I’m not sure how he learned this. But not only did he learn it, he lived it. He didn’t practice it; he lived it.
I remember stories of him meeting needs of single moms in our community without them knowing. When a farmer was sick and in need of help during harvest, he would leave his field to go to another’s in order to harvest their crops first. As a struggling teenager and young adult, he would often secretly pay one of my bills – whether as simple as having my oil changed or paying for new tires or brakes on my car. He was generous. He didn’t practice it; he lived it.
For many of my years growing up, on Thanksgiving week we would go to the small, local grocery and load up on “all things Thanksgiving” and donate those to families in need. When I say “load up”, I don’t mean a couple of large grocery bags. I’m talking about “loading up” the entire backend of his pickup.
As I sat in church yesterday and heard the need for another 50 baskets, I was reminded of my dad. I could envision him quietly leaving the house that afternoon, going to the grocery, and delivering a truckload of groceries.
Later this morning, I’ll deliver groceries to our church and help sort those groceries. And all of this because of my dad’s spirit of generosity that he taught me and my sister so well. While I’m sorting groceries, my sister and her husband are living their own version of generosity back on their Indiana farm. As their biological daughters are grown and on their own, they are giving three little people a chance to experience this life of generosity as they have adopted them as their own forever family.
I’m hoping today that we aren’t just practicing generosity; I hope that we’re learning to live it. I hope you are too … and I think Thanksgiving is becoming my favorite holiday too.
Beautiful.