Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thanksgiving thoughts - by Terry Burns

Shortly before her death at the ripe old age of 96 my mother, Ruth Burns, said of her life: “I’ve never been hurt, never been abused, have had pretty good health, and walked with Jesus all of my life, I just don’t see how anyone could ask for more.”


What a great testimony on a wonderful woman and what a great way to cut through to what is really important in life. During the election coverage someone, I forget who, was talking about the fact that there are two kinds of people in this world, givers and havers. The givers are concerned with what they can share with others and the havers are involved with collecting as much as they can. The one making the point said that not many years ago there was no such thing as self storage units and now it seems they are on every corner. Clearly most of us have become havers.

Mother was a giver, always concerned more with others than herself. She grew up in times when they didn’t have much, but they didn’t want much, so they always felt their needs were met. Saundra’s family was the same and we were raised that way. We don’t have much by worldly standards but consider ourselves immensely blessed. When we find we no longer need something, or when we were dealing with Mother’s possessions after she passed, we sold very little. Instead item by item it went to people who needed it. We love knowing that she was still having an impact on people’s lives and we were as well. And so many people have a little something they can remember her by.

This is the time of the year when everybody writes notes about how we should be thankful, that it is the real reason of the holiday, not just eating turkey and watching football. But are we just parroting the words? When we count our blessings the big ones are not what we have but how we have been allowed to share our lives and our faith with others. Mother didn’t just talk about it, she lived it, and we are trying so hard to live up to that example.

We are indeed blessed in so many ways, and like her, I just don’t see how anyone could ask for more.

1 comment:

B. J. Robinson said...

Beautiful Thanksgiving story. I wrote one last year that was published in our local newspaper, a revised edition of one I'd written years ago that was published in my hometown newspaper. I love reading and writing such stories. I love what you did with your mother's items after she passed. As would have been her wish, she was allowed to continue being a blessing to others. God bless you and yours on this lovely Thanksgiving our Lord has given us. Blessings, Barb