Lesson I Learned from a Turkey

Copyright © 2004 Eileen Rife

I stood before a freezer full of turkeys at the grocery store. Scavenging through the assortment of Butterballs, I spotted a particularly plump fellow resting in the back of the unit. Since I was hosting around 12 guests for Thanksgiving dinner, I wanted at least a 15 pound foul to feed my crew. Greedy for that bird and in a hurry to get out of the store and on to the next errand, I fumbled through the front line of turkeys to reach the back. As I did, one of the smaller, yet equally solid birds in the front, slid from its resting place and landed squarely on my left foot. An immediate dance ensued to the tune of “Turkey on the Toe.” My little Rumpelstiltskin tirade got me nowhere. Busy, self-absorbed shoppers passed me right and left. Suddenly, I began to feel sorry for myself and very much alone. Even a little sick to my stomach.

Collecting myself, I threw the sorry turkey back into its stall and hobbled into the next aisle, telling myself I would shop for a turkey later. Rubbing my stinging toes, I reprimanded myself for being so greedy for that particular bird. In my pain, I slowed down and began to reflect on the previous days. As I pondered the richness of my life, I began to feel less hurried, less greedy for big bird in his frozen cage. I thought about what was really important to me. As I did, the Holy Spirit filled my mind with verses from Psalm 128 that I had learned years earlier.

How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,

Who walks in His ways.

When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands,

You will be happy and it will be well with you.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine, (and so I had –parenthesis mine)

Within your house,

Your children like olive plants (indeed they were – parenthesis mine)

Around your table.

Greed turned to gratitude as I thought about my family. How God had blessed us because we revered Him above all! Our precious “olive plants” were now grown and pursuing God’s direction for their lives. Our oldest daughter, Rachel, was on her way to India, fulfilling a ten-year dream of becoming a career missionary. I thought about our second daughter, Michelle, who in a few short weeks would graduate from college with a degree in biblical counseling and marry a youth minister in the coming months. Together, she and Jonathan would serve the Lord in a new church plant in Pennsylvania. And then my mind drifted to my precious last-born, Stephanie, a senior in high school, who was earnestly seeking God’s will for the coming year.

And my heart was full. Overflowing, in fact. I was so grateful that my husband, Chuck, and I could have the privilege and responsibility of rearing three godly daughters with God’s grace and wisdom. We had drilled into them over their growing years that to glorify God in body, soul, and mind was their chief end. At each graduation we left them with the scriptural charge, “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth”(3 John 4).

In that moment, as shopping carts careened around me, I inwardly breathed a thank-you prayer to my Father for 20 years of home schooling my girls and 28 years of marriage to a godly, compassionate man. Somehow, in that inner moment, the size turkey I served on Thanksgiving Day seemed trivial in light of the many blessings God had just brought to my mind. 

Funny how God can use even a frozen turkey on a harried lady to quiet her heart, regain her perspective, and teach her a lesson about gratitude.

 ~~

That article was written ten years ago. Today, all three of my married daughters are serving the Lord around the world in full-time missions. We now enjoy seven precious grandchildren, ages eight to four months, around our table. And Chuck and I have been married 38 years. My family has provided much fodder for my books, especially the passions behind my fiction works. Check them out at my Amazon author page for a Christmas gift!

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003O405FO 

Just a Pilgrim Passing Through

In two days, we celebrate Thanksgiving. Not a new thought. We practice this ritual every year by pulling out our favorite holiday table cloth, china, silver or stainless steel. We make out grocery lists, dig out old family recipes, and

scrub the guest room until it sparkles. A sense of excitement fills the air for some, while dread fills the hearts of others. Those preparing huge quantities of food, typically the women in the family, usually fall into the "dread" category,

while those consuming the huge quantities of food, typically the male occupants of the household, fall into the "excited" category.

Thankfully, in our house we have worked out a system where I cook and Chuck cleans. That's fine by me. I enjoy the food preparation on this special day more than any other time of the year. Maybe it's because my family and guests always

seem to appreciate the effort so much. Just another way they show their thankfulness, I suppose.

I like the anticipation of the days leading up to Thanksgiving Day. I even like wrestling the raw twenty-pound Butterball around the kitchen early Thanksgiving morning while everyone else in the family snoozes. Once he is safely

tucked in the oven, cooking in his pan, I sit back for a while and just enjoy the aroma wafting from the kitchen.

I day-dream about the early settlers to our country. Pilgrims in search of a better world and a better home for their children. Freedom to worship God apart from a king's tyrannical rule.

Then I think about myself and my family. Just pilgrims, really, in search of a better world and a better home. On a journey, not from Europe to America, but from this earth to heaven, and I am at peace. Even though the smell of baking

bird calls me back to the kitchen with thankfulness for my present riches, I silently thank God that this world with its turkeys (you can read whatever you want into that word) is not all there is! A better world is coming. Not a world

devised by the evolutionists or secular humanists or new age thinkers, but a world created by a loving Father calling His precious child home.

A pilgrim just passing through on this Thanksgiving Day. How very thankful I am for that!

~~

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003O405FO 

What Mave Does on Thanksgiving Morning . . .

Woman vs. Bird

And I know who wins . . .

Every year, Second Chance protag Mave does the same thing on Thanksgiving morning, but I'll let her tell you about it.

Dancing around the kitchen floor at five in the morning with a naked turkey is not my idea of fun. Nevertheless, Thanksgiving Day wouldn't be complete without my annual battle--woman vs. bird. After inching the stubborn plastic ring off the drumsticks, I plop my captive on the counter, thrust my hand inside the cavity, and retrieve the wrapped giblets to cook up for gravy. Chuckling, I remember asking Jerry this time last year if he wanted the neck.

Gathering the garbage, he'd quipped, "Wanna neck? Sure!"

I rolled my eyes and shot back, "Is that all you ever think about?"

He paused and scratched his head. "Yep, pretty much." Then he slung the bag over his shoulder like Santa Claus and headed for the kitchen door.

Sure, he was joking. Still, what do they always say? There's a bit of truth underneath every joke. Maybe I should have appeased his appetite. Perhaps the growing distance I've felt between us since the kids left wouldn't have occurred if I'd been more attentive to his needs. 

A newbie to the empty nest, Mave misses her kids. She's let her appearance and affection toward her husband slip. Now she wants the fire back in her marriage, but wonders if Jerry's moved on to greener pastures.

But Mave's done some "slipping" out, too, and a couple new people join the Robertson's Thanksgiving table this year as a result. 

And one of them may very well get her in trouble, not only with Jerry, but with the law. 

A signed copy of Second Chance, FREE to one commenter! 

Leave a comment below and automatically enter to win a print copy of Second Chance, in time for Thanksgiving!

Winner announced on my birthday, November 18! 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1602903182 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/second-chance-eileen-hinkle-rife/1108376061?ean=9781602903180 

http://www.christianbook.com/second-chance-eileen-rife/9781602903180/pd/903180?product_redirect=1&Ntt=903180&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP 

 

Just a Pilgrim Passing Through

JUST A PILGRIM PASSING THROUGH

This is the week we celebrate Thanksgiving. Not a new thought. We practice this ritual every year by pulling out our favorite holiday table cloth, china, silver or stainless steel. We make out grocery lists, dig out old family recipes, and

scrub the guest room until it sparkles. A sense of excitement fills the air for some, while dread fills the hearts of others.Those preparing huge quantities of food, typically the women in the family, usually fall into the "dread" category,

while those consuming the huge quantities of food, typically the male occupants of the household, fall into the "excited" category.

Thankfully, in our house we have worked out a system where I cook and Chuck cleans. That's fine by me. I enjoy the food preparation on this special day more than any other time of the year. Maybe it's because my family and guests always

seem to appreciate the effort so much. Just another way they show their thankfulness, I suppose.

I like the anticipation of the days leading up to Thanksgiving Day. I even like wrestling the raw sixteen-pound Butterball around the kitchen early Thanksgiving morning while everyone else in the family is still snoozing. Once he is safely

tucked in the oven, spitting grease in his pan, I sit back for a while and enjoy the aroma wafting from the kitchen.

I day-dream about the early settlers to our country. Pilgrims in search of a better world and a better home for their children. Freedom to worship God apart from a King's tyrannical rule.

Then I think about myself and my family. Just pilgrims, really, in search of a better world and a better home. On a journey, not from Europe to America, but from this earth to heaven, and I am at peace. Even though the smell of baking

bird calls me back to the kitchen with thankfulness for my present riches, I silently thank God that this world with its turkeys (you can read whatever you want into that word) is not all there is! A better world is coming. Not a world

devised by the evolutionists or secular humanists or new age thinkers, but a world created by a loving Father calling His precious child home.

A pilgrim just passing through on this Thanksgiving Day. How very thankful I am for that!

Lesson I Learned from a Turkey

I stood before a freezer full of turkeys at the grocery store. Scavenging through the assortment of Butterballs, I spotted a particularly plump fellow resting in the back of the unit. Since I was hosting around 12 guests for Thanksgiving dinner, I wanted at least a 15 pound foul to feed my crew. Greedy for that bird and in a hurry to get out of the store and on to the next errand, I fumbled through the front line of turkeys to reach the back. As I did, one of the smaller, yet equally solid birds in the front, slid from its resting place and landed squarely on my left foot. An immediate dance ensued to the tune of “Turkey on the Toe.” My little Rumpelstiltskin tirade got me nowhere. Busy, self-absorbed shoppers passed me right and left. Suddenly, I began to feel sorry for myself and very much alone. Even a little sick at my stomach.

Collecting myself, I threw the sorry turkey back into its stall and hobbled into the next aisle, telling myself I would shop for a turkey later. Rubbing my stinging toes, I reprimanded myself for being so greedy for that particular bird. In my pain, I slowed down and began to reflect on the previous days. As I pondered the richness of my life, I began to feel less hurried, less greedy for big bird in his frozen cage. I thought about what was really important to me. As I did, the Holy Spirit filled my mind with verses from Psalm 128 that I had learned years earlier.

How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
Who walks in His ways.
When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands,
You will be happy and it will be well with you.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine, (and so I had –parenthesis mine)
Within your house,
Your children like olive plants (indeed they were – parenthesis mine)
Around your table.

Greed turned to gratitude as I thought about my family. How God had blessed us because we revered Him above all! Our precious “olive plants” were now grown and pursuing God’s direction for their lives. Our oldest daughter, Rachel, was on her way to India, fulfilling a ten-year dream of becoming a career missionary. I thought about our second daughter, Michelle, who in a few short weeks would graduate from college with a degree in biblical counseling and marry a youth minister in the coming months. Together, she and Jonathan would serve the Lord in a new church plant in Pennsylvania. And then my mind drifted to my precious last-born, Stephanie, a senior in high school, who was earnestly seeking God’s will for the coming year.

And my heart was full. Overflowing, in fact. I was so grateful that my husband, Chuck, and I could have the privilege and responsibility of rearing three godly daughters with God’s grace and wisdom. We had drilled into them over their growing years that to glorify God in body, soul, and mind was their chief end. At each graduation we left them with the scriptural charge, “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth”(3 John 4).

In that moment, as shopping carts careened around me, I inwardly breathed a thank-you prayer to my Father for 20 years of home schooling my girls and 28 years of marriage to a godly, compassionate man. Somehow, in that inner moment, the size turkey I served on Thanksgiving Day seemed trivial in light of the many blessings God had just brought to my mind. Funny how God can use even a frozen turkey on a harried lady to quiet her heart, regain her perspective, and teach her a lesson about gratitude.

~~

Today, I'm a blessed wife of 35 years, a proud mother to three married daughters, mother-in-law to three godly sons, and the grandmother of Rebekah (5), Kylie (almost 5), Daniel (3), Ethan (almost 3), Hannah (1), and Gabriel (1). My grandchildren are now like olive plants around my table! www.eileenrife.com