Oftentimes, if we look around a little, we can find people with great need right on our doorstep..... In our neighborhood there was a big old house which had been divided into apartments. There was a kindly gentleman, an older man, who lived there by himself and was very poor. We were talking one day, as Thanksgiving was approaching, and he commented that he was going to buy a can of pumpkin so that he could taste it on Thanksgiving, because he hadn't had pumpkin pie for a long time. It broke my heart to think that that was going to be the extent of his Thanksgiving dinner. So my parents invited him to come have Thanksgiving dinner with us. Now no one could cook a better turkey than my mom could! Her dinners were always a treat and complete with all the trimmings! When dinner was ready, she sliced a lot of meat and placed it on a large platter. Also, she placed one whole turkey leg there. We sat down to eat, and as the food was being passed, Mr. H. looked longingly at the turkey platter. He looked at the sliced meat and he looked at the turkey leg, which was large. We knew he wanted the leg, but he was too polite to take it. So Mom told him to take it - and then he did..... with a big smile. During dinner he began to share his story with us. In 1944 he had done something for which he had spent a short time in jail. His family had disowned him and he had not seen them since. He paid his dues, but his family was gone. He had been completely alone ever since. It was 1959, and this was the first Thanksgiving dinner he had eaten since 1944.... How rewarding it is to reach out to others.

"For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in. Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me."
Matthew 25:35 and 40b NKJ

© 2004 Arlene Schwartzkopf