Giving Thanks Through Tragedy

Collectively, our nation will soon celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.  Not everyone will be happy and joyous...

Most of us will take time off from our normally busy routines to visit friends and relatives, to sit together around the family table, and to enjoy lovingly prepared, elaborate meals.  We will eat turkey, and ham until we can no longer eat.  Our eyes will float in sweet tea, lemondade, and soft drinks.  We will reminisce about times past.  We will remember those gone before us.  Our waistlines will expand, and we'll laugh until our sides hurt.  Some of our kids might even laugh hard enough to shoot green peas out of their noses!

Some of us may even take time to give thought to those blessings and good things we have. We might "give thanks" to an almighty God for who we are, and what we have been given.  We might thank Him for the loving family that surrounds us during this holiday.  But not all will...

Thanksgiving for some is a time of horrific pain.  Its a time for them when memories are not something that brings great joy, but are rather an instrument of beytrayal, extreme cruelty, and injustice.  Some will be consumed the grevious memories of a loved one taken far too soon.  A spouse, a parent, or even a child that has been grudgingly ripped from their heart leaving a gaping hole, yet to be refilled.  Or even worse, that hole has been refilled with bitterness and hatred.  Its difficult to see blessings when you are consumed with bitterness and pain.  Its difficult to even acknowledge God's love.  A "Loving God" would not...  How can I believe in a "Loving God" who has...  What's there to thankful for...

My own mother passed away, a few years ago, on November 7th.  She went from watching QVC to leaving this earth in a matter of a couple of weeks.  So Thanksgiving, while still joyous, does not hold the same thrill that it once did. After a great deal of pain and agony I've asked forgiveness for the bitterness that once filled the hole, and God has graciously refilled that void with other things, a loving wife, a wonderful extended family, great friends, an awesome church, and most effectively, with Himself.  But I am not the only one that has dealt with, or is dealing with tragedy during the Thanksgiving holiday.  Maybe you still are.

A former member of Trinity, Karen Churchwell, has had to deal with just this type of tragedy and has written her story so that others might read it and be comforted.  You can read Karen's article, entitled My Story.  One of her daughters, Jordan, has also written an article, from a her viewpoint, entitled Legacy.

God loves his children and wants to fill the voids we all have, with Himself.  Give thanks to Him even in the midst of tragedy.