Turkey with trimmings and pinto beans

It was a little over 25 years ago, that I looked outside the large windows of my families mountain home. The trees outside weighed down heavily with fresh fallen snow.
Our living room and kitchen kept warm by the flickering wood furnace surrounded by the massive stone chimney.

It was Thanksgiving. Normally the kitchen would be buzzing with activity, the house filled with the inviting aroma of turkey and pumpkin bread. But not this year…
My parents had decided to donate our Thanksgiving groceries to the homeless shelter in a nearby city. A generous gesture  leaving my seven siblings and I with a large pot of pinto beans instead of the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings…
No one had anticipated that the snow fall would cause a power outage in our area of the mountain. Probably caused by a limb falling on a power line.

The pan of beans was transferred to the wood furnace to finish cooking. The power didn’t come back on till late the next morning…

We enjoyed or simple dinner and felt sorry for those unable to cook their Thanksgiving dinners due to the severed power lines. The homeless shelter located about an hours drive down the mountain was not effected by the outage.

The lesson of generosity my parents wished to instill was beautifully illustrated that day. When God puts it on your heart to give, do it! He knows what’s best!

– memory shared by 3xM executive assistant Deana van de Groep