Thanksgiving was my dad\u2019s 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\u2019t fully cooperate. And then there were others where we experienced a \u201cbumper crop.\u201d Those years were few but always a welcome gift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the midst of all of those rough years, my dad was always grateful ... bumper crop or severe drought. I\u2019m not sure how he learned this. But not only did he learn it, he lived it. He didn\u2019t practice it; he lived it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s 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\u2019t practice it; he lived it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For many of my years growing up, on Thanksgiving week we would go to the small, local grocery and load up on \u201call things Thanksgiving\u201d and donate those to families in need. When I say \u201cload up\u201d, I don\u2019t mean a couple of large grocery bags. I\u2019m talking about \u201cloading up\u201d the entire backend of his pickup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later this morning, I\u2019ll deliver groceries to our church and help sort those groceries. And all of this because of my dad\u2019s spirit of generosity that he taught me and my sister so well. While I\u2019m 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m hoping today that we aren\u2019t just practicing generosity; I hope that we\u2019re learning to live it. I hope you are too ... and I think Thanksgiving is becoming my favorite holiday too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thanksgiving was my dad\u2019s 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\u2019t fully cooperate. And then […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":119267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[31],"tags":[122,104,58,6,71,123],"class_list":["post-2207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main","tag-generosity","tag-giving","tag-leadership","tag-life","tag-life-lessons","tag-thanksgiving"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/pexels-photo-7490977.jpeg?fit=1880%2C1253&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pzg9k-zB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1435,"url":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/better-together-a-reflection-after-a-week-at-kids-camp\/","url_meta":{"origin":2207,"position":0},"title":"Better Together: A Reflection After a Week at Kids Camp","author":"Jon Plotner","date":"July 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"We just finished a week of New Life's Kids Camp. It's that week-long crazy madness with kids of all ages, all kinds of activities, and sleep deprivation. As a short-term former children's pastor, I remember these weeks well. Weeks of planning finally all pays off as hundreds of kids descend\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Main"","block_context":{"text":"Main","link":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/category\/main\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":210391,"url":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/the-ripple-effect-of-contagious-positivity-in-teams\/","url_meta":{"origin":2207,"position":1},"title":"The Ripple Effect of Contagious Positivity in Teams","author":"Jon Plotner","date":"March 24, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Some people possess a remarkable ability to emanate contagious positivity, uplifting their environment even amidst adversity. These 'positive energizers' enhance team dynamics with virtues like kindness and gratitude. Conversely, 'de-energizers' drain energy and morale. Successful leaders cultivate positivity, recognizing its pervasive benefits across professional and personal spheres, improving well-being, relationships,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Main"","block_context":{"text":"Main","link":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/category\/main\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"silhouette of people during golden hour","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pexels-photo-207896.jpeg?fit=1200%2C637&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pexels-photo-207896.jpeg?fit=1200%2C637&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pexels-photo-207896.jpeg?fit=1200%2C637&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pexels-photo-207896.jpeg?fit=1200%2C637&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pexels-photo-207896.jpeg?fit=1200%2C637&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1021,"url":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/it-just-doesnt-come-knocking-on-your-door\/","url_meta":{"origin":2207,"position":2},"title":"It Just Doesn’t Come Knocking on Your Door","author":"Jon Plotner","date":"April 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I was meeting with one of students that I am teaching at Living Stones in our School of Worship Arts. This young lady is growing into becoming an amazing songwriter and worship leader. As we sat down again to discuss where this session will lead us, we determined that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Main"","block_context":{"text":"Main","link":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/category\/main\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1445,"url":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/what-happens-when-youre-finally-alone\/","url_meta":{"origin":2207,"position":3},"title":"What Happens When You’re Finally Alone?","author":"Jon Plotner","date":"July 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This week has been like any normal week. Today was like any other normal day \u2014 a day filled with meetings, projects, and emails. Until I got home. I walked into an empty, quiet house. Even the dog seemed to recognize that something was \"off.\" My wife left for a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Main"","block_context":{"text":"Main","link":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/category\/main\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2207"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2208,"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207\/revisions\/2208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}