CREEDE HINSHAW: God’s plentiful gifts of thanksgiving

Recently I experienced a day filled with the joyful and surprising realization of God’s power, presence and beauty. As is my habit, I began the day with a cup of coffee and devotional time, the dawn of this new day gradually producing an azure sky highlighted by clouds painted salmon by the low October sunrise.

I drove to a breakfast gathering at the Wesley House, a United Methodist ministry with Mercer University college students. In retirement, I have very few meetings, this circumstance being its own reason for gratitude.

My route took me through a once decrepit Macon neighborhood where deserted, dilapidated houses have been razed and new Habitat for Humanity houses built in their place, the neighborhood slowly coming to life over a period of months. On this fresh autumn morn, a rental-truck moving van was parked in the driveway of one of the Habitat homes, a happy family unloading their possessions and becoming homeowners for the very first time. I almost stopped my car to rejoice with them and offer a prayer.

Arriving at the Wesley House, I was stopped in my tracks by a bank of shimmering, flaky cirrus clouds hovering above the steeple of the nearby Centenary United Methodist Church. I took a photo with my phone, but would have been better served to simply breathe thanks to God and carry that image in my mind’s eye.

The Wesley House gathering was to thank donors for their support, which meant that my day began surrounded by generous people and eager students growing in faith. What an inspiring group of people! The highlight was my conversation with a young adult who had once professed atheism but was now a baptized follower of Jesus connected with a group of college students who were growing Christians.

My next stop was to replenish coffee for my house. A nearby local roaster has a continuing, meaningful relationship with small growers in Ecuador. Each bag, via a QR Code, introduces the purchaser to an Ecuadorian farmer and family. I am drinking coffee grown by Diego Jaya in Las Lojas, Ecuador. The coffee is a little more expensive but well worth it on many levels, and I drove home with the aroma from two bags of freshly ground coffee tantalizing me.

On the way home, a procession of golden gingko trees blessed me with one last touch of fall color, their leaves shimmering in the Macon morning. Pulling into my driveway, I reflected on what an incredible start it was to my day. I had seen new life and hope on many levels, some of it the result of committed people of faith and others supplied by God’s almighty hand revealed in creation. And it was only 9:30 a.m.

Some days gifts keep falling into one’s lap; other days one must look hard to find blessing. But every day contains occasion for thanksgiving. I pray that you may encounter Thanksgiving blessings in abundance.