Memories are the pictures of the mind. I was thinking about Thanksgiving coming up and my brain took me back to a Thanksgiving many, many years ago.

In 1965, we lived in the Texas panhandle. We had three children running in age from six months through two to four years. Yes, “running” is kindofa pun. It was all we could do to keep up with them and we often got behind.

We had a particularly cold November as Thanksgiving approached. We wrapped presents and put them around the corn stalks in the corner of our living room. Lights were carefully hung. Strings of popcorn and cranberries were draped around the corn stalks. We breathlessly waited for that great Turkey who would come down the chimney and add gifts to our little pile with a hearty “Gobble, gobble, gobble.” Oh, wait, I’m getting my seasons mixed up. (grin)

Getting a turkey was a problem. Oh, there were tons of them in the stores, but we lived on a very small income ($100 a week). Fortunately, I was able to work out a deal with a good friend who owned a large discount store. He needed a floor walker to look for shoplifters. I’d done some of that at the Marshal Field Company in Chicago while at Moody. What was the catch? I had to wear the Santa Clause suit while observing his customers. What a hoot it was when thieves were “Busted by the Claus” (http://graceland.gentle.org/xmascel/busted.html).

Well, I more than earned our Thanksgiving turkey that year. I think my friend also gave me a nice ham. Yes, I did catch several Winonas! (g) So, you see, this was a very special and precious turkey.

When the turkey finished cooking, my wife, fearing that our children might burn their precious little mouths, on the hot bird, asked me to set the turkey outside to cool a bit while she finished the sweet and mashed potatoes and the vegetables.

We had what was called a “swamp cooler” as an air conditioner. I figured the top of the cooler was an ideal place to put the bird. It was quite high off the ground.

When I was sent to retrieve our turkey, I found two cats gnawing on the carcass. Evidently they weren’t burning their precious little mouths! (g) It was ruined way beyond consumption. I chased the cats off with a few Christian words and phrases, but they’d already ruined our meal. I did the magnanimous thing and gave the rest of the bird to them. THEY had a great Thanksgiving. We happened to have a little bit of ground beef in the fridge. We had a very unique Thanksgiving dinner.

As I remember, the one thing not ruined by my lack of foresight was the true spirit of thanks that we had for all the Lord had done for us, with us, through us, and in us.

Things don’t always go the way we think they should. Should this prevent us from a true spirit of Thanksgiving 365 days a year?

I’d enjoy hearing about your best/worst Thanksgiving stories and any lessons the Lord lays on your heart after reading this piece.

The graphic came from a scanned Thanksgiving card sent me by my 95 year old shirttail cousin, Pappy. This card dates back to the turn of the last century.

I’d love to hear your response to “The Cool Bird”. Just use the “Leave a Reply” box below!

– Man, I bet you wished you still had that peddle car! Do you realize, besides the sentimental value, how much that Fire Truck would be worth today? I know it would be in the four digit range. Water skiing is a great sport, and lots of fun. I have seen some hilarious things in my day. I grew up in Indiana where there are lots of lakes and water Skiing was always popular. I have seen people do the “hit the shore bit” and it can be funny, if the person is okay, of course. One fellow was on the lake and was a pretty good skier and wanted to try the ski jump. Off they went. They made a couple of passes to get located in the right spot and up the ramp he went. The only thing wrong was they forgot to wet the ramp down first. He hit the ramp and left about 5 lbs. of flesh on it. Then, of course, still hanging on to the ski rope, he was rather forcefully slammed into the water. He survived with minor injuries, but for some reason he never tried the ski jump again. One other thing I remember is a fellow who thought that it would be fun while he was skiing to squat down and bounce his back side in the water.

     Great article. It brought back some fun memories. Have a Godly day and I pray for your house and family and for the Lords healing of your eye. By the way, now in the State of Texas to be a Fire Service Chaplain you must be a firefighter.

– Great Inside Out Jerry…………..We pay for our mistakes in judgment with the Lord as well. We get emotional bruises when we don’t leave it to the Lord and listen to him…………I AM sorry that you got so tore up though skiing that day. That couldn’t have been comfortable. LOL………I’m sure you will remember that forever!

– Your story today was just wonderful. I loved it. You were an adorable little boy, too. Doesn’t it seem like it was just the other day? I look back on my childhood and wonder where the years went. My sister and I were playing out under the apple trees yesterday and now I’m 68 years old. Where does the time go?

     I will pray that the insurance company will get your house fixed up fast and that you guys can go back home. I will also pray for your eyes, Dear Friend.

– Great piece! This piece brought a lot of things to mind. I remember that I was never able to get up on skis. I used to envy those people whizzing around the lake(s).

     Mostly I thought of how we get too dangerously involved in sin. We wait until that last moment because we don’t want to let go of the moment or thought. When we finally do walk away from the sin we are left bruised and confused. After 20 years of being a Christian I still have a problem with worry and dwell on things. I roll and tumble on the rocky sand of my thoughts and my vision gets clouded and my focus is off of God. What I try to do is give it to God and if the thought keeps coming back I will shift gears to a verse of Scripture or song or just keep praying. (Of course I command Satan to leave me alone as well).

– Thanks for the story and for sharing that the vehicle in the picture was a firetruck…I thought it was so cute! However, I didn’t realize it was a firetruck…your story about learning to ski offers many applications to our spiritual walk…God is our lifeline, yes, and sometimes we need to let go of situations and let God have them…trusting Him 100% is difficult. I’m sure that I’ve tried to hold onto things longer than I should have…I’m not sure if I’ve received physical bruises as a result; maybe some emotional bruises; because I didn’t take my hands off.

– So, tell me, why did you choose the ministry when it sounds like you had such a promising career at Cypress Gardens in their water show? (couldn’t resist!!)