All week long, I was thinking about Thanksgiving, and not being able to be with my family in America. Last year was so much fun!

During my worship time on Thanksgiving morning, a new thought came to me. What am I really thankful for this year? Well, it seems to me that the greatest joy I have is in serving others…whether it is my family in America, my family here, or the people who come to me for help. I also thought about Thanksgivings in the past, and I realized that I spend hours and hours of work, and when I am all done, I feel stuffed, and there is a big mess to clean up. Nobody seems to appreciate it nearly as much as that amount of work would justify. So, then I believe that God gave me a better idea! I raced out to the living room and told my plan to the girls who were very enthusiastic.

We went to the kitchen and started whipping up a huge batch of my famous oatmeal cookies! We baked all morning, and when we had finished, we had a big pile of cookies on the counter. Then the girls bagged them up in plastic bags, and put them in the truck.

In the afternoon, we went from person to person in the village, and gave them a bag of cookies, telling them that today is Thanksgiving, and we are thankful for YOU! The result was huge smiles on the peoples faces. They cannot be given something without doing something in return, even though they are so poor, so we were given huge slices of cucumber in return, since that is what is in season right now. So we did end up with a feast of our own…a cucumber feast!

We came home feeling so happy and refreshed. That was the best Thanksgiving I think we have ever had.