Thanksgiving

On Tuesday afternoon I met Maria and her two grandchildren - Nancy and Kelly. Maria lives in a village called America and it is a bad neighborhood. Her house was about 12x14 with dirt floors. There was one bed in the house and that is where Maria and the two grandchildren sleep. The mattress on the bed was one that looked like it had been discarded on the side of the road - it likely was somebody elses trash. Inside the house there was pretty much nothing - very few clothes, no toys for the two little girls, no food to speak of. The belongings that were there were what most of us would consider garbage.
Yesterday we were able to build Maria, Nancy, and Kelly a new house. When the wood truck arrived, Maria was singing a song about the strength of God. Maria sang this song most of the morning as she helped carry the wood up the mountain - about 300 yards. The slope wasn't too drastic but it takes a lot of wood to build a house. Maria never stopped the work until all of the wood was at the top of the mountain. (Maria looks to be in her 60's - I didn't ask)
When we finished the house, Maria cried. She was so happy that her little girls would not be stepping out of bed into the mud anymore. She cried when we were able to give her a big "house box" filled with all sorts of things that most of us take for granted. The box had towels, pots and pans, spices, cooking tools, and many other things that Maria could never afford. When we were all standing in the house, Maria spoke - she said, "Before today, I wasn't sure that God was there. Today, I know that he is real. He heard me - he listened to my prayer and now I have a house. He is strong."
I was blessed by Maria - she taught me a lot about thanksgiving - even though she likely doesn't even have a clue that today is when the USA celebrates the day of thanks.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc