My Personal Thanksgiving Rant
In case you were wondering where I stand...
I read a post on myspace that hit a nerve tonight. Basically, a good dozen paragraphs boiled down to an exposition on the rights, and cruelty we humans direct towards, turkeys. Let me say that I have never pulled the legs off of a spider, killed anything under a microscope, or any of the stupid things that kids do. My parents raised me with a pretty good respect for animals. Do I eat meat? Yes. Do I know (and support) people that hunt? Yes.
Here's the thing. I do not believe in or endorse cruelty to animals. Could my turkey have been raised on a turkey farm and injected with hormones? Could be. But I only have been given so many minutes here on earth, and when I stand before Christ and give an accounting of my life here, I want to have more to show than a flock of turkeys. Maybe, one of these semesters, everything will line up for me to go to medical school, and someone else won't have the death sentence handed to my father in the form of a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor. Maybe another couple will not have to sit, holding their dead baby, only to hear the words, "We don't know why." Maybe. Maybe not.
But across the world tonight, people in Bangladesh can't find thousands of loved ones from a hurricane. Approximately 126,000 abortions were performed TODAY ALONE. Here in Spokane, my husband is blessed to work with some of the smartest, strongest, most poor kids you'll ever meet. Their stories would shame your whining to silence.
So, on Thursday we will gather around a table in the middle of Montana and give thanks to God for another year. I will thank Him for my four beautiful children, my husband, my mom and my stepdad, for my sister, step brothers, and amazing family of inlaws that have adopted me as their own. I will thank Him for the last 365 days, in which He has brought us a new baby, a new job, a new church, and new friends. I'll give thanks for the dad that raised me and the baby that will always make our table feel a little empty, and know that every verse I read about heaven makes me think of them and every breath I take brings me closer to the day I am reunited with them. And most of all, I'll thank God that He saved me, by His Son, and therefore I am able to trust in His holy will, both around a Thanksgiving feast and in the darkest valleys of life.
And then, I will eat and celebrate and rejoice with my family, and sleep in peace, knowing that I am making a difference here, if not in the life of a turkey.
I read a post on myspace that hit a nerve tonight. Basically, a good dozen paragraphs boiled down to an exposition on the rights, and cruelty we humans direct towards, turkeys. Let me say that I have never pulled the legs off of a spider, killed anything under a microscope, or any of the stupid things that kids do. My parents raised me with a pretty good respect for animals. Do I eat meat? Yes. Do I know (and support) people that hunt? Yes.
Here's the thing. I do not believe in or endorse cruelty to animals. Could my turkey have been raised on a turkey farm and injected with hormones? Could be. But I only have been given so many minutes here on earth, and when I stand before Christ and give an accounting of my life here, I want to have more to show than a flock of turkeys. Maybe, one of these semesters, everything will line up for me to go to medical school, and someone else won't have the death sentence handed to my father in the form of a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor. Maybe another couple will not have to sit, holding their dead baby, only to hear the words, "We don't know why." Maybe. Maybe not.
But across the world tonight, people in Bangladesh can't find thousands of loved ones from a hurricane. Approximately 126,000 abortions were performed TODAY ALONE. Here in Spokane, my husband is blessed to work with some of the smartest, strongest, most poor kids you'll ever meet. Their stories would shame your whining to silence.
So, on Thursday we will gather around a table in the middle of Montana and give thanks to God for another year. I will thank Him for my four beautiful children, my husband, my mom and my stepdad, for my sister, step brothers, and amazing family of inlaws that have adopted me as their own. I will thank Him for the last 365 days, in which He has brought us a new baby, a new job, a new church, and new friends. I'll give thanks for the dad that raised me and the baby that will always make our table feel a little empty, and know that every verse I read about heaven makes me think of them and every breath I take brings me closer to the day I am reunited with them. And most of all, I'll thank God that He saved me, by His Son, and therefore I am able to trust in His holy will, both around a Thanksgiving feast and in the darkest valleys of life.
And then, I will eat and celebrate and rejoice with my family, and sleep in peace, knowing that I am making a difference here, if not in the life of a turkey.
posted by The Bakers at 8:01 PM
2 Comments:
Wait a second, until you said something, I never knew there was anything odd about pulling legs off of bugs. I oftentimes pull the jumping legs off of grasshoppers so we can get a better look at them without them jumping away. I already taught Ruthie to do that. I even heard they can grow back!
Amen Sister, I was just thanking Jesus for salvation this a.m. before checking my computer. I came away with a VERY thankful heart as I spent time in His word. I wouldn't want to face a day on this earth without Him. I look forward to meeting Him face to face!!! But while still here will ask that He allow people to see Christ in me. Happy Thanksgiving! Leslie
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