Thanksgiving---What’s Up With That???

 Greetings from the SoupMan!

Here we go again! Another year has flown by and it’s already Thanksgiving week. It’s a time many of us reflect on what we are truly thankful for. This will be my 39^th Thanksgiving on this earth. Well, er, ah, maybe a few more years than 39, but who’s counting!!!

 So am I thankful this year? You betcha! I am incredibly thankful and consider myself to be blessed beyond measure. Why you might ask? Is it because I am fabulously wealthy? Nope!  How about I’m blessed because of the huge mansion I live in? Nope—no mansion! Maybe it’s my thousands of adoring fans? No again---there don’t seem to be any adoring fans on my doorstep!

So gee, why do I feel so blessed. Well it doesn’t hurt that I have the most fabulous wife on the planet---Shana! But in truth the reason goes much deeper. Every day I ‘get’ to help people. Every day I ‘get’ to bless my fellowman. Every day I ‘get’ to give. And of course when I say ‘I’, I really mean ‘we.’ At the SoupMobile it’s a team effort. We ‘get’ to serve the ones Jesus called the ‘least of these.’ 

Notice the word ‘get’. We ‘get’ to help the homeless. We don’t ‘have’ to do it, we ‘get’ to do it. I consider it a deep privilege that the Lord allows me to do what I/we do. You’ve heard of the Monday blues. I never get them, or the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday blues. Never! Every single day when I get out of bed I simply nod and thank God for this amazing privilege to serve others. And it truly is a privilege. Why so some might ask? After all we put in lots of effort, long hours and work many late nights. Could that be a privilege? Yes indeed! 

The reason is incredibly simple. As givers we get so much more that we give. No I don’t have a ka-zillion dollars and a huge mansion. Nonetheless my life is one of incredible richness, warmth, love and joy. And it’s all because the old saying is absolutely true---‘It’s better to give than to receive.’ And did I mention my how blessed I am to have a wife as fabulous as Shana.

Am I the most blessed man on the Planet? I think so, but who really knows for sure. The real lesson seems to be that when we give we actually lose nothing and gain so much more. Giving and serving is what we are all about at the SoupMobile. As such we are blessed beyond compare!

May you have a joyous and blessed Thanksgiving.

May the Lord Bless & Keep You & Yours.

Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan