Giving Thanks Chaotically

Thanksgiving in England is an interesting phenomenon. The holiday is, of course, a distinctively American one, so here there is no break from work, no family gathering, no dam to keep back the flood of Christmas advertising.

Nevertheless, we decided to buck our environment and find some Americans for a Thanksgiving celebration. We invited the two couples we know, the Hays family and the Strines, to our place for a Thanksgiving meal. After discovering that the first grocery run of the morning hadn't gotten everything, I ran back out to another store for a forgotten ingredient. I came back to my car and - it wouldn't start. I tried several times, even opened the hood (here: "bonnet") and poked around, but nothing. So I wandered around Thame for an hour and a half, looking for change, a pay phone, someone to call, and eventually figured out that we have a recovery scheme with our insurance company. While the tow-truck was on the way, I walked back to the car to try it one last time - and it started! Still have no idea how...

Got back to the house to continue the preparations. Checked my email to find that Casey and Amanda Strine had gotten violently ill with a stomach bug and couldn't make it. We felt terrible for them. This also left us with enough food for an extended family gathering, and three adults and a three year old child to eat it. We could only laugh...

All this didn't keep us from reflecting on the rich abundance with which the Lord has graced us in so many ways. Even, and perhaps especially, in the adversity we have faced during the past few months, his grace has been a sustaining presence in spite of our recalcitrance and myopia: his mercy endures forever.