“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
His faithful love endures forever.” Psalm 136:1-3 NLT
“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT
Wow! We had such a beautiful and fun time together celebrating Thanksgiving last night at Tim’s House in Chicago! I sent out an e-mail at the beginning of this week asking if anyone could help or cook for our Thanksgiving (Eve) dinner, and God provided an overflowing feast complete with every traditional dish imaginable as well as other dishes that were passed-down family recipes, and it was wonderful! Thank you to everyone who cooked and helped, including those of you who have donated financially because we were able to purchase whatever we needed to make our dinner perfect and special. Everyone loved our time together!
To top everything off, a friend reached out to ask if her Sunday School could make homemade cards for each person and give gift bags of warm socks and McDonald’s Cards. People were so surprised and there was so much joy when we passed out the gifts after dinner.
After dinner, we read several Thanksgiving Scriptures from the Bible; and after we prayed together, we went around the room and each person shared what they were grateful to God for. One man said with a smile on his face, “I am grateful that someone invited me to this place two weeks ago because I can be myself here…I can be Andre here!” He went on to say, “Out in the streets, I can’t be myself, or I would be eaten alive.” He then said, “Above all else, I am grateful for Jesus Christ in my life because whatever I face, He is always with me.” He had such a smile even though he has not had a place to live and sleeps on a train or wherever he can find shelter. We have already completed permanent housing applications for him, and we are making calls; but please pray because he is in his 60’s, and it’s more difficult to get into housing than ever before in Chicago. We want to financially support a couple of people for up to a year in housing, but there are some challenges in finding places…but I know God will open the doors!
Several people who have moved into housing this year said, “I am thankful for a shower and a warm place and a bed and feeling safe.” Someone else said, “I thank God for waking me up this morning and giving me another day because I should not be alive after what I’ve done over the years, but God protected me and saved me in more than one way!” It was a beautiful time of sharing what we are thankful for; and I personally am thankful for each of you and for all of the people who are family at Timothy’s Ministry! As Andre said, “We can be ourselves here without concern of judgement, and I believe that is because of God and His love that He pours out! Praying for you today to experience God’s love today!!!! Happy Thanksgiving!!!!
Love and Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
Marian
The Porch of the Lord 