In which we learn to be thankful

Yesterday I grocery shopped and brought home a carload of groceries. My sons graciously carried it all in for me, and then they helped me figure out where to store all that food. My cupboards are full, my pantry is full, my basement is stocked with food. We will never, ever, ever have one hungry day.

Today my two youngest sons and I volunteered at the Neighborhood Center delivering Christmas boxes of food to people in our town who know nothing about carloads of food. They were thankful for a box of food. They live in places we never imagined people to live in. Some of them don't even have a house to live in. They live in a room. A room! We went to places with smells we had never wanted to smell and saw people we never knew lived in our town. We were saddened and humbled.

Tonight, as I lay my head on my pillow, in my bed with the heated mattress pad, I will do so with gratitude. I will pray for the people we met. I will also pray that my sons will never forget what they saw and smelled today. I know I won't.