By Greg Miller © 2019

Thanksgiving Day was Amy’s favorite holiday.

“For many people, Thanksgiving Day is just a day to eat turkey but, for me, it’s a special time set aside to thank God for all His blessings,” Amy wrote in a “Letters to the Editor” section of the local newspaper. “It’s a day to show my appreciation to God for His abundance.”

The newspaper wanted to use the section to allow people who wrote letters to correspond with each other, so those whose letters appeared there were required to provide their phone numbers and e-mail addresses with their submissions. The week prior to Thanksgiving Day, the newspaper published a full page of letters of thanksgiving.

A few days after Thanksgiving, Amy walked down the driveway to her mailbox to retrieve the good surprises she believed were there. Amy opened the mailbox and pulled out the large stack of mail. She tucked the envelopes under her arm, making her way back up the hill.

Amy went inside the house and prepared a cup of green tea with honey. As the warm liquid soothed her throat, she read a portion of God’s Word before opening the mail. As she opened her Bible to Psalms chapter 100, her eyes focused on verses 4-5, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”

Amy raised her arms toward heaven, acknowledging the universe’s benevolent creator. As heaven’s righteous aroma filled the room, she praised the Lord for life, liberty and laughter. “Thank you, for leading me through this life and for sending Jesus to die on the Cross for my sins,” she said, as tears of joy cascaded down her cheeks.

Amy felt a strange desire to get a pen and a piece of paper. The Lord whispered, “Amy, I want you to write down everything for which you’re thankful.”

Amy picked up the pen and wrote the word “everything.”

“Here you go, Lord,” Amy said. “A list of everything for which I’m thankful.”

“I see you’re thankful for everything,” the Lord grinned.

“Yes,” Amy chuckled. “I wanted to include everything for which I’m thankful and, at the same time, make the list as short as possible. My mom always said I should try to conserve as much of everything as I can, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to see how much ink I could save!”

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By Greg Miller  2018

 Greg is retired from the Elizabethton STAR Newspaper, after working there for almost 23 years. He now freelances for the paper. Contact email address is [email protected], also facebook.com/kidcool4jesus. Available for speaking engagements/other ministries. Jesus is Lord