James 1:17 says that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” This is the verse I felt on my heart that kicked off our Thanksgiving Dinner for the Military this year! We are thankful for all of the good gifts that our Father has bestowed upon all of us and this ministry!
Much of the planning that we made was derailed as time ticked closer to Thanksgiving, and though changes can be frustrating, we put everything in God’s hands. Earlier in the week prior I was doing devotional time with Beth and I came across the passage in John 16 (vv. 19-28) that really spoke to me. Jesus said: “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” So I asked that He would fill the seats and that many would come for both physical sustenance as well as spiritual. The Lord answered this prayer! My joy is full, and all the glory goes to God!
Leaving the work up to the Lord was wonderful but with all of the changes, our own accountability was lacking. We all stayed busy serving and ministering to those who joined us. I believe there were more military and family guests, but the ones I can remember right now are 12 Active Duty, 9 accompanying family members, and 2 veterans for a total of 23! We also had 4 non-military guests who frequent the Center and were invited. All of our staff and volunteers who served and were served totaled 16 (not counting Doug and Laurene who provided wonderful dishes but could not stay). That is a total, conservatively, of 43 that were fed and we had more than 12 baskets of fragments left over if you know what I mean!
Although no new professions of faith in Jesus were made Thanksgiving day, the Gospel went out and I know that the Lord will use our work. As the prophet Isaiah penned the words of God: “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” That is from God, who does not lie. His word will not return unto Him void!
I would like to thank all of our staff and volunteers who helped to get everything ready for a successful event both on the Wednesday before and Thanksgiving day. Everyone rolled up their sleeves and did what needed to be done, and still took some time to make our guests feel welcome and appreciated! A special ‘thank you” goes out to Milton and Erica who really did a lot of prep work leading up to this event and for Beth who provided guidance and wisdom as the Thanksgiving torch was passed to our newest Center Directors!
I pray your Thanksgiving celebration was full of appreciation for the many blessings the Lord rains down on you, and may you also be thankful for the work the Lord is having us do right here in San Antonio! God bless!
