Three things I am grateful for this week, Dec 1-7

12/1/24 GRATEFUL THAT GOD SENT ME A MESSAGE. For about five years, I've had a habit of stopping in the parking lot of the local community college on my way home from work and spending a few minutes praying for the college. I pray for the Gospel to spread there. I pray for Christian clubs to form and take root there. I pray that Christians will connect with each other. I ask that God put Christians together so they can encourage each other and be the light of the Gospel to others. 

But my company has sold our office, and I no longer drive past the college on my way home. I thought it was just something I was to do for a season, but the time passed, and I would not continue the practice. 

But I met a young man in church, and while getting to know him, I asked him the usual questions like what he did, where he lived, and such. It turned out that he was attending the very community college that I had been praying for. I asked him if he knew about the various clubs and if he knew of any other Christians. He was very excited to say that for some time, he had a lab partner with whom he was working on an assignment that turned out to be a Christian.  

I think God sent him to visit my church and have a random conversation with me so that I could learn that my ministry of prayer was effective.  I feel that this young man's testimony is God communicating to me to keep praying. I am thankful for the young man's testimony and that God sent him to me. I feel that I have a commission to pray, and I will make a special daily drive to the campus parking lot to continue my prayer practice.

12/2/24 GRATEFUL FOR THE LORD'S PRAYER. Today, I was thankful for the Lord's prayer.  It is wonderful that the Lord's prayer teaches us to pray, among other things, to say, "Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil," I'm thankful for the second part of that phrase for a couple of reasons. To begin with, note the plural nature of the Lord's prayer; it doesn't say to lead me not into temptation and deliver me from evil; it is us. Of course, the nature of society in Jesus' time was more social and communal and not full of the Western independence of modern man. So, the Lord's Prayer is full of words like our and us. So I can pray the Lord's prayer for me and, more importantly, my community and loved ones. Teaching us to pray for God's protection over our loved ones implies that it is God's intention to do so. That is empowering.  So, I am thankful because I can confidently pray, "Father, deliver my kids from evil," and be assured of His watchful care for them. While praying for my kids, I felt incredibly grateful that God was, is, and will be watching over and protecting my kids. 

12/6/24 GRATEFUL THAT MY WIFE HAD A GOOD TIME AT THE CHRISTMAS PARTY. A few weeks ago, the organization I work for asked members to attend a Christmas celebration hosted by a partner organization. The invitation included spouses. So, after discussing it with my wife, I sent an RSVP that included both of us. I was afraid that it wouldn't interest her, and she would have to give up her evening to sit around and listen to a bunch of us talk about things she wasn't interested in. I was anxious that she would not have a good time and feel let down. 

As we drove to the event, I offered a few silent prayers, asking God to provide her with a good time. There was one couple she knew from before, and we sat at a table together. This couple is vivacious, generous, and outreaching. My wife talked and laughed with them all evening. There was enjoyable entertainment and a humorous time of playing Christmas-themed party games. 

I am thankful that God loves my wife and cares for her just like I do; of course, he loves her more.

Why I am Thankful The I Finally Accepted a Challenging Task

I work in the mailroom and among other things take general care of the facility. On the wall in our training room are portraits of all the former Executive Directors of our organization for the last 120 years. They are photos or old images lifted from archives. Each one is matted in a frame with glass and on the mat board of each one is where the name and dates of service.

All except one.

NO ONE KNOWS WHY
For reasons unknown to me, one did not have a name or date on the mat below the image. It must have been a later addition to the wall. Some months ago the chief operating officer asked me to use my artistic skill to do some calligraphy for the name, title, and dates on that picture. I appreciate the confidence he had in me but it was the confidence I did not share. I know a little about calligraphy but not enough to match the style and accent of the person who did the others. If it wasn't perfect it would embarrass my department. It would be interpreted badly as if someone was being disrespectful. Visitors would ask questions. The pressure was on.

STALLING
Over the past few months, I have been stalling saying I needed to practice my italic font so it would not look too out of place from the others. I practice and studied the style of the others but still did not feel confident that I could do it without messing it all up. I would look at the picture and say, "Lord help me, help me to do this thing in a good way."

IT CAN'T BE DONE
I was hoping everybody had forgotten about it but the other day the boss asked me again to write the information on the picture's mat board. I reluctantly got the picture down and another to use as a model and took them to the work area and laid them on a workbench.  When I disassembled the frame, glass, and mat I found out why it was not done before like the others. This mat was heavily textured like canvas. It was the wrong paper for pen work, if I tried to write on it the result would have been spotty and look rough and run. This was bad. There was no way anyone could do calligraphy on that surface.

A NEW SOLUTION
I got an idea. The computer has lots of fonts and our office printer has the ability to generate almost any color.  It was actually easy to find a flowery font with a flourish like calligraphy used on the other pictures. When I changed the settings to bold and changed the size it was a perfect match to the others. The hard part was the grey color of the background. I tried dozens of variations and finally came up with a match, a violet grey. I printed it out on card stock and cut everything to shape.  Once it was slipped into the frame over the mat board it looked better than the others. When I hung it on the wall with the rest of them you could not tell the difference between the computer-generated script I created and the hand-drawn letters of the others.

I am so glad that I do not have to worry about it anymore. I am thankful it worked out so well  I am not good with computers but I am thankful that God has given me the opportunity to learn how to do these things. I believe God helped me to do it. I know I must continue to rely on him daily.

If you or someone you know needs encouragement then order a copy of my book, BEYOND THESE DARK LANDS ARE EDGES OF JOY, Words of comfort and hope. Poems by A.E. Dozat, you will be glad you did.


© Adron 3/4/18

A Surprising Reason To Be Thankful For Others

Something has been happening in a small group of friends which has given me something to be thankful for that I did not expect.

I direct a small part of a kids club at church called awanas. My class is the kindergarten class, it is a fun and easy class to teach and I have been doing it so long that a lot of it has become rote for me. We have a few teenage helpers who come; some are there really trying to serve God and the kids, but I am sure one or two are there because their families pressure them into going since their younger brothers or sisters are attending the club.

All these youth helpers are a wonderful bunch of kids.

I have tried to do things to build community and relationships in our little team.
     * I have given each one of them extra responsibilities.
     * I have challenged them to become more mature in their leadership.
     * I have tried to organize a few social opportunities so we can just get together and have fun.

The idea of doing something together just for fun is new for me, it is a reach beyond just going and "Doing Awana Club."

I wanted to focus on building relationships in and among the team because I have come to see that a church ministry or service project without relationships is only a program, but when you focus on relationships you can do much more and it goes far beyond that particular event or project.

Teenagers normally congregate in little groups and natural divisions occur based on interest, background, and stuff like that. But as we try to focus on a relationship-based ministry I have begun see the divisions are melting and the youth team is becoming united. They are getting along and they all are looking for each other.

I am surprised at how much I am enjoying seeing relationships grow and friendships begin in our club.  I am thankful that God opened my eyes to the possibilities of a relationship based ministry. I am thankful to see the youth on my team smile at each other and look forward to being together.

I am thankful not because I am getting something out of it like a reward or payback but because I know it is important and good. I am thankful to see their friendships happen and that I had a little part in it happening. I am thankful for what I have been learning about serving God and the community through this experience.

© Adron 3/4/18

How The Big Boss Made Me Thankful Today.

These days I work in the mailroom at a not-for-profit where I mostly do printing, order supplies, perform light maintenance, and the usual 'go for' stuff.  It is not hard work and except for the occasional gremlin in the machinery, it is mostly easy.

For a while I had been bothered that some of the bulletin boards in the lobby were not up to date; in fact, they were so out of date that I do not remember anybody refreshing them with new material since I started this job over a year ago.

Looking at what had been there I guessed the theme of each section was and found newer material that was relevant and began to put up new displays on the cork bulletin boards.  At first, they looked dull, so I dressed them up the way school teachers used to do when I was a kid by using colored paper to make little frames and borders.  It took a few days of tinkering in the extra moments here and there between other tasks that I was assigned, but finally, the bulletin boards looked interesting and fresh.

I was very proud of my humble efforts, though I know most people could do better.

Today on my lunch break the executive director came up to me and paid me a great compliment; he said that he was impressed by the bulletin boards and had often wanted someone to do that very thing.  He said it was creative and also had the best choice of the information displayed.

It made my day to think that the big boss would take time out of his busy day to notice a little thing like a bulletin board and look for me to say he liked my work.

Why Only God Could Help Fix A Jammed Stapler Machine

I now work in a mail room where there are a lot of machines.  One of these machines is called a saddle stitcher, it is used to staple fliers and booklets in the middle fold.  This stapler is supposed to operate over a million punches before it needs servicing.  I use it several times a week.

It jammed.  The staples were no longer going through the pages correctly but were being bent in a twisted kink instead of folding down.  Looking closely at the machine I saw a tiny shiny fragment of a staple in the black hardened metal part that cinches and folds the staple wire.  I tried to pry it loose with the smallest screwdriver that would get in the tight space, but without success.

I found tools and began to take it apart hoping to free the shard, but the part that was jammed was a solid unit, I was able to get the part out but not free the piece from the part.  There was some movement but the shard was still stuck in there.

The machine had a manual which described all the things that could go wrong and how they could be corrected, but there was no help for the piece being jammed in the way it was; apparently it is not supposed to be able to happen like that.  Feeling hopeless I put it all back together.

For the next few days whenever I looked at the machine I prayed for God to help make it work.

Later in the week I tried it repair it again and took it apart but this time I sprayed it with oil.  It didn't work.  I put it together and tried to operate it but still a bad result.  I made adjustments here and there and still it wouldn't work.  I gave up.

So I began to think it would need to be replaced and went to the internet to find out how much a saddle stitcher would cost and was shocked to find out that it would cost about three months of my wages for one.

With new motivation, I tried to fix it again.  This time I dismounted it from the stand and laid it on the table.  It was much heavier than I thought and it slipped out of my hand and dropped the last inch onto the table.  "Just great," I thought, "I bet it is worse now than before."  I fiddled with the thing here and there trying to move the parts from other directions but it was still jammed.

I asked God to show me what to do.


I thought to myself that this machine was not going to be fixed.  After remounting it I tried one last time to move the parts again.  It was still jammed.  OK, I figured it was broke and it couldn't get worse, so I put a screwdriver inside and pushed the moving part as hard as I can.  Nothing happened. I saturated the part with oil put the screwdriver in and pushed as hard as I can and this time it finally moved!  The shard was nowhere to be seen.

I gave it more oil and moved the pieces back and forth a few times then put it all back together.

I picked up some papers, put them in, and hit the button.  The stitcher made all the right sounds then punched and folded the staple through the papers.  It was a beautiful sight to see.

I am not a machine repair kind of guy, the only reason the saddle stitcher works is because God helped me fix it.

(c) Adron 2/28/15

Thankful For A Surprise Blessing When Teaching Sunday School

For years I have taught Sunday school at my church.  Sometimes I have taught the kindergarten class, the youth, or another age group- wherever there is a need. Currently, I am teaching a class of three-year-old children.  The class averages eight kids who are full of energy but are generally well behaved.

The lessons our church gives us to teach is pretty basic stuff, but somehow I can't resist going a little deeper than the Bible stories of Noah, Daniel, David, and Jesus: I just have to give foundation truths that I hope will be seeds of lifelong blessings to the kids.

 I always have a helper and occasionally two if there are more kids.  My helper these days is a mom of one of the kids.  She is a nice woman and has an advanced degree in computer engineering.  I always felt a little intimidated by her education and sophistication since I have never been to college, but we are there for the kids so I put thoughts of status away and focus on the work of the Lord.

In class this last Sunday as we were gathering the kids to the table for our Bible lesson she beamed a bright smile and said, "I am thankful to be in this class with you since I always learn something when you teach the kids."  I was astounded that she was learning when I taught the kids.  It shows that you never know who you may influence and impact.

I was surprised and humbled. It felt like God was using her to endorse my efforts to teach His word.  I am grateful to be able to serve the Lord in little things and thankful that He blesses in unexpected ways.

 (c)Adron Dozat 2/9/15

Why I am Thankful For The First Time Sleeping Late On Saturday Morning

I am always the first to wake up in the morning or at least the first to get out of bed.

This was a hard week with a lot of physical work on my job.  I had a few late nights and a few times I had to go in early.  After work there were evenings with commitments and projects that called for my attention.

By the time I made it to bed late on Friday night I was aching in my back and shoulders.  It was one of those times when I was so tired that I cannot even go to sleep.  In the middle of the night I got up and took an aspirin and finally got to sleep.  It was one of those deep sleeps where you are all wrapped up in your own dream world and don't want to get up. For me this is rare.

Most Saturdays we have places to go with our kids or things that have to be done around the house; but this Saturday there was no errands demanding I get up early like the weekdays. That knowledge must have been in my sub-conscience mind and gave me more reason to get out of bed.

This morning others in my house got up before me and the coffee was already made. I was able to go downstairs and not fumble around in the kitchen trying to make coffee, it was ready to pour.

Not having the pressure to do something was strange, I felt like I had to experiment with how to relax.  I took my Bible and a cup of coffee to the couch and sat down for a time of reading and reflection on God.

It was a little thing but somehow I feel that God was putting it together so I could take time to get back to him a little and renew my sense of being centered in him.  A busy life is what He gave me but he also gives me little quiet times and I am thankful that my Loving Father in Heaven is in control.

(c) Adron 2/7/15

Why I Am Thankful for Hope

It is one thing to be thankful for the blessings that we can see, touch and experience, but we should be thankful the things we do not easily see.

Hope is one of the things that I am thankful for even though I do not physically see it. Hope gives us the motivation to go ahead with things that may not be possible. Hope enables us to dream, and our dreams themselves become the stuff that wraps our hope up and keeps it alive when other sources are lacking. Hope defies the current truths and brings the myth of a better world to reality.

I am thankful for hope because it gives comfort when facts are discouraging. People may point out the problems and the difficulties which deflate a person's vision but hope keeps on believing.

I am thankful for hope because without it I would have given up on every important effort in life. I would have seen failures and stopped, I would have taken discouragement to heart, I would have stayed in bed and not faced the next day- but hope speaks louder than those things.

Hope keeps the picture of success in our hearts and helps our feet step steadily toward that image. It has picked me up when I have fallen down and whispered the vision of success back into me.

Hope must be a gift of God. It is contrary to the realities around us but without it the realities around us would be unendurable.

Were it not for those who treasured hope and pursued it many blessings in our world would not be here. They are the ones who sacrifice and pay the price for their dreams because hope said it could be done. Hope honored them and they have become those who we admire and consider noble examples of the best in humanity.

I am thankful for hope.

(c) Adron 12/26/14

What Can You Do When Being Thankful Is Boring?

The practice of thankfulness is a decision that needs constant reaffirmation. I get tired of telling God that I am thankful for this or that. Of course, I am thankful but I get bored with the same old expressions.

I am thankful to God that I have a job, I am healthy, my kids are doing well, for my wife, and for my home. I am thankful, but expressing it in another prayer today seems old, and didn't I thank God for these same blessings yesterday?

This is a dangerous attitude. If you feel bored with thanksgiving you may begin to neglect it altogether, which is an insult to God who gives blessings.

Our lives should be an expression of gratitude. Giving service to God and mankind is as valuable an expression of thankfulness as a prayer said in King James prose. Acts done in God's name are as valuable an expression of thankfulness as any devotional worship, but such offerings should be done with the intent of giving thanks.

We should not minimize the value of verbal thanks to the Almighty, but when it gets dull and boring thanksgiving needs to be revisited and reinvested in.  Acts of service with verbal expressions of gratitude make us less likely to put thanksgiving in a compartment of our faith that is distant from our daily activities.

We should all resolve to give thanks with our words, prayers, songs and verbal expressions; and we should resolve to give thanks in actions big and little done in the name of God.(c) Adron 12/1/14

Thankful For The Young Teacher.

Our church has a club called Awanas. It is a club for kids to come and have fun while learning about God and the plan of salvation.

One of the goals is not only to tell Bible stories and have the kids memorize Bible verses but to see everyone involved grow in faith and character.

There are many Youth who help in the club. We call them Leaders in Training. Recently I thought one of the youth should step up to take on more responsibility, so I asked her to teach a fifteen minute lesson on the Bible verse John 3:16.

When it was time for her to give the talk she stood up without hesitation or evidence of nervousness. She had a well thought out talk with questions, examples, and illustrations.  She had an engaging object lesson to illustrate the cleansing God gives the sinner who comes to him. The kids connected with her and I believe God's Holy Word was sown in tender hearts.

I believe I witnessed the first lesson taught by someone who will be a great teacher. I am grateful to be able to be one to offer this opportunity to someone who will I believe do great things for the Lord.

Why I am Thankful For The Singer

On Friday night after work I went to the Fish Head Cantina in Halethorpe MD and watched the musicians play in the Pavilion at the back of the restaurant. One of the bands was a group called Archangel, a rock band of talented teens. They were invited to perform after they posted an audio of their music on the web. The vocalist is my daughter.

I watched her come on the stage and wait behind the microphone while the guitarist were tuning and setting things up. She looked at the crowd of maybe 200 people and smiled. She looked beautiful and as a father I was proud of her.

I was afraid she would have an attack of stage fright and leave the stage, or forget the words, or sing flat; but she was confident and sang without a sign of nerves. She was good and the audience appreciated her and enjoyed her singing. She had a sweet stage presence with an innocence that was mixed with an edge of passion for social justice. I thought she was endearing. It was a great performance and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed myself.

     * I am thankful that God had blessed us with a talented daughter.
     * I am thankful that I was able to see her perform.
     * I was thankful that she is experiencing success in things like singing.
     * I am thankful that she is enjoying her youth.
     * I am thankful for the support of the other musicians in the band and that they are a good bunch of kids.

I pray that she is aware of the blessings these things are.

Thankful for My Son's Generosity

It has been my my practice to take a chapter of Proverbs from the Bible and to pray it through for my kids. I would read each verse and pray the topic of that verse for them and nowadays for friends too. The exciting thing about this approach is that in Proverbs every concern in life is dealt with, so I am able to consistently pray about their attitude to work, friends, folly, alcohol and many other things.

Recently while visiting my son who is away in college I observed his reaction to the homeless where he lives. I was surprised and full of admiration at the respect, kindness, and generosity he showed each that came to us asking for money. Every time he had a kind word, a gentle manner and a dollar or more.

A verse I often pray for him is "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD, and his good deed will he pay him again." Proverbs 19:17.  I feel that God has answered the prayers I have offered up for my son that he would be a kind and generous person.

It is ironic that I am his parent and I am supposed to set the example for my son but his example put me to shame, since I talk Christian virtues but he showed me what it is to live them.

I am thankful that God has blessed my son with character and with values that reflects a Christ likeness in his heart.

I am grateful to have seen the results of prayers prayed for him, and I feel more resolved to pray diligently for him.

Why It Is A Responsibility To Be Thankful For Good Health.

I have been riding my bicycle to work for the past few weeks since my son is using the car for college. I enjoy riding my bicycle; it keeps my waistline slim, heart beating, and helps me in many ways.

I know many people my age are not able to ride a bicycle twelve miles a day because many are struggling with various health issues.  It is not just about age since people young and old can suffer affliction in their health.

Because I have good health (I do have a few minor problems), I feel it is a responsibility to take care of myself. Many people wish they were in good shape, and it is insulting to them if I let myself go. It would be a statement that I do not value what they long for when I have it and neglect it.

Good health is a gift. God could take that gift away. If I do not cherish the gifts he has given me, I can't expect The Lord to just give me another gift after I have squandered His earlier gifts.

By God's grace, I enjoy good health; I could have a stroke tomorrow or come down with a chronic condition like some of my friends. I am grateful that God in His mercy has spared me that test. If I come to that ordeal, I pray that I may face it with the nobility that respects those who have gone through such trials with grace and confidence in their Maker.

I am thankful for my good health, and I pray for my friends to enjoy the same blessing.

(c) Adron  9/18/14

Thankful For An Honest Mechanic

My car, which is an old Volkswagen Passat, suddenly started to make a loud noise and it seemed the muffler had gone bad. The car ran fine so I put off dealing with the noisy muffler until it was convenient to have someone fix it; and I didn't look forward to spending a thousand dollars on a car repair since the muffler alone would cost about $600.00, and that is just part of the exhaust system.

There was no opportunity to have it looked at until a holiday weekend. I thought most auto shops would be opened since the holiday wasn't one of the big ones like Christmas; I was wrong, my first choice was a national muffler repair chain but they were closed. I drove all over town trying to find an auto repair shop. At last Merchant's Tire and Auto was open. I was not keen on using them because I thought it would be better to have the muffler replaced by a muffler specialist who had experience and parts on hand, but they were open and the job needed to be done.

After the mechanic had the car up on the lift he called me out to look at it. "It doesn't need a muffler," He said, "See here," and he pointed to a rusty cracked metal thing that was wrapped around the pipe leading to the muffler, "This coupling has gone bad and has come away. I have one that we can use."

"Great that will be cheaper," I said.

He laughed, "Yes a lot!"

I waited a little while and he came for me. "It worked perfectly," he said.

The bill was only two hundred dollars.  If he had not been honest he could have just put in a new muffler and exhaust system and charged me over a thousand dollars.

I am grateful God worked out the circumstances for me to find an honest mechanic.

(c) Adron 9/2/14

Why I am Thankful to be used of God

It is common to be thankful for the blessings we get in life such as health, home, food and the many basic needs we all have. Someone told me a bit of news today that caused me to feel very grateful- thankful not for something the Lord has given me but something that He has allowed me to do.

It starts with my other blog, (Coloring Pages For Kids By Mr Adron), where I post pictures that I draw which people can print off and give to kids that they may color. Many of the pictures are generic themes of dogs and cats, Aesop's fables, flowers, Bible verses and stories that I did for my church's kids club. I often wonder if anybody actually prints them and if my poor drawings are ever colored by kids.

A woman came up to me at church today and told me she had found my blog. She said she had been printing out the coloring pages and bringing them to an after school homework club that she is involved in. It is at a low rent housing complex and many of the children are from low income and struggling families. These children are coloring pictures that are telling them of God's love and the hope of the Gospel. These children do not get to go to church but they are getting God's Word.

I started blogging because I had hoped it would be a financial benefit, but I am grateful that it is used of the Almighty to do more than I ever thought it would. I am excited to think that God is using my humble efforts to plant eternal seeds in the hearts of His lambs.

You can see my blog at coloringpagesbymradron.blogspot.com. Print some and give them to the kids.

Thankful that God Provided Extra Work On My Job

Yesterday I was scheduled to work only four hours at my grocery store job. I had been aware of this since the schedule was posted a few days before. I was discouraged to see the reduced hours since times are tough and cashier's wages are slim to begin with. I asked if more hours were available but the answer was vague, it seems everybody in the store has been given fewer hours.

In the morning the ground had over an inch of fluffy white snow. Since there was no need to pack a lunch for a four-hour shift I used the extra minutes to get an early start. Good thing too, the roads were slushy and mixed with icy slippery patches.

I arrived at work a minute or two early and began my shift. A few minutes later the phone rang at the customer service counter, moments later it rang again, and then a third time. The customer service manager was becoming more upset with each call. It seems that some of the other cashiers had phoned to say they were not able to come to work because of the snow or illness.

I went to the service counter to look at the schedule. The person who was supposed to take over my register at the end of my shift was crossed off.

"I can work that shift if it helps out," I said.

"That would be great!" The manager exclaimed, "In fact, I'll buy lunch for you!"

The combined shifts were an hour and a half more than I would have normally gotten, and a free lunch besides made it a good day.

God had plans all along.

(c)Adron Dozat 3/4/14

Thankful That God Caught My Mistake For Me

Yesterday on my job at the department store I did a major goof up.

The cash register computer has a screen that tells several things at the end of each transaction. One is the amount a customer saved with the discount program given to members of the store, shown in blue in the middle of the screen. Another is the change to be given back and it is shown in red. My mistake was to read the wrong set of numbers as the change. The customer saved twelve dollars but his change was supposed to be two dollars. I gave him twelve dollars instead of the two.

I began to ring up the next customer and the man I gave too much money came back and told me my mistake.

If he didn't I am sure the till audit would be ten dollars off and I would be in trouble. It all comes from being too much in a hurry and not paying attention; not to mention it was the second job since I already worked eight hours at the grocery store earlier that day.

I thank God that this man was honest and had the integrity to come and give the money back. I am sure it saved my job.  It just reminds me what a gracious God we have who is always watching out for us.

(c) Adron

Thankful for Another Person's Kindness.

The other day I was trying to get my art studio in order so I could make progress on some new projects and designs I am working on. I decided it would be helpful to stack some crates to make some shelves. I had a few and after about an hour got them arranged and things put in their places. It was not perfect- I needed about two or three more to make my design functional.

On my way home from my "honest job" at the grocery store I made the decision that I would bite the bullet and buy another crate. I normally would wait for a sale or a coupon but I was feeling if I didn't finish the organizing of my studio it would never be workable.

I reluctantly went to the store which sells the crafty stuff and found the unfinished crate used for folk art. It was not on sale and I didn't have a coupon so I was not happy about paying full price. I got in line and said a silent halfhearted prayer, something like, "Lord should I buy this or not?"

A moment later a woman came up the line asking people if they wanted a coupon for 40% off of one idem. I thought she worked there but she was a customer and had too many because the store would only let her use one on a purchase, so she was giving the rest away. "You are an answer to prayer," I told her as she gave me the coupon.

It was a little thing but I am grateful for it and that our God is the God of the little as well as the big. I am thankful that God hears my prayer no matter how weakly muttered. I am thankful that I can be confident of God being with me wherever I go.

Why I Am Thankful For An Indian Restaurant.

Today I had a morning off, and since my son was home from university, I wanted to spend a little time with him before I went to my evening job. I always feel that I do not get to spend much time with my kids. It is easy to say I'll get to it later, but if you keep waiting, later never comes, and the time is lost.

I was working at my desk, and he asked if he could borrow the car. I thought that he would be gone all day, and the hoped-for time together would be lost. He wanted to go to a hobby shop to get something of interest.

"OK." I said, I just need to get to work tonight at five."

"I'll just go now," he said, and I gave him the car key feeling sad at another missed opportunity to be together.

A minute later, I got an idea.

"Hey..." I called down, "The Taste of India restaurant is next to the store, why don't we go together and then we could have lunch at the restaurant."

"Sure," he said, "I haven't eaten, yet I could go for some lunch. Let's all go." and he went to get the other boys.

I have never been to that particular restaurant, but I know he likes vegan food, and I am open to eating anything that doesn't move too much on the plate.

The hobby shop was a quick stop. We went inside the restaurant and had a delicious meal together and talked about a lot of things. The Indian food was delicious and was an all-you-can-eat buffet which my boys kept visiting. It was just the time together I was hoping for.

I believe that God put the idea in my head to suggest the restaurant; I think he had it planned all along.

I am grateful that he is still open to spending time, and I am thankful to have had a "guy" meal with my boys.

(c) Adron 12/17/13

How I Became Thankful For Other People That Inspire Me

These days I am working a second job at a department store as a cashier to help with extra expenses of the Christmas season. I work there after my shift at the grocery store and finish at 11PM.

You can tell when a customer is going to be a problem. Cashiers get this sense and then avoid the ones that are going to have a lot of needs and request, like for checking prices, argue about coupons or want everything bagged in some special way, meanwhile, the line backs up and the next customer blames you for making them wait.

Late last night a man and his wife in modest clothing were slowly pushing a cart loaded with toys past the registers. I suspect other cashiers began to busy themselves so they didn't make eye contact, which is a sure invitation to come to their line. I am paid to do my job, so I waved them over to my check out station.

The cart was over full with every kind of toy; dolls, books, arts and crafts, building blocks, sports equipment, balls, action figures of superheroes, games, and more than I can remember. As the total ran into the hundreds I began to look at the couple wondering what kind of family they had since the toys were all ages and interest.

"You must have a lot of kids and grandkids," I said.

"No, these are not for our family."

"Oh," I looked at them.

"Every year we give to 'Toys For Tots.' We drop the toys off at the fire station where they collect the toys and give them to needy children. For some children, it is the only toy they get.

I was amazed- they were spending hundreds!  They did not wear fine clothes, the wedding rings were modest, his shoes were falling apart and his shirt was frayed at the sleeves, this couple was not upper income, possibly not even middle income.

I gave the total with the expectation that they would say it was too much and then begin the frustrating process of taking things off the purchase so they could afford it all.

"We will be splitting the payment up." He said as he held out some cash in his callous worn hand. I counted the twenties and tens and told them the remaining balance. Next, he gave some gift cards for small sums.

I felt for this couple, I have observed as a cashier that when people are having money problems they split the payment in different ways to draw from multiple meager sources.

"Put $150.00 on this card." He said swiping a credit card through the card reader. "And the rest on her debit card."

They spent more on kids that they do not know and will never meet than I earn in two weeks on both of my jobs.

"I hope you don't spend all year paying this off." I offered sympathy for what I thought was sure to be a burden on their income.

"No, we plan for it; we set money aside and sometimes I get extra work and put a little away."

As they left carefully pushing a shopping cart that had toys piled three feet high, I had a feeling as if the angles above were looking down as a witness to their act of gracious giving.

I felt humbled by their generosity. I am thankful to have met them and inspired by their act of sacrificial kindness. I pray that our Heavenly Father blesses their kindness and rewards them liberally for their sacrifice. I hope in some small way to follow their example of giving.