A Thanksgiving Story
“When I got off the bus there was a chocolatey smell coming from Mrs. Turner’s back porch.” “Come on over, Jonathan and have a cookie,” she called to me. Then, while I ate cookies and drank milk, I’d tell Mrs. Turner about my day at school.
One day when my friend, Mitch, and I got off the bus at my stop, Mitch said, “What’s that smell?” Mrs. Turner had been baking again. It wasn’t chocolate this time. It was more like Mom’s cinnamon toast. It was pumpkin pie. Mitch climbed up on the porch and said, “let’s take it.” “Hey, put the pie back,” I said. “What’s the matter,” asked Mitch. “Are you chicken?” He flapped his arms like wings and made chicken noises. Could I let someone call me a chicken? “Give me that pie,” and I carried it to the soccer field. When we got to the soccer field, we ate that pie and then tossed the pie pan like a Frisbee.
That night I couldn’t sleep, thinking about that pie and Mrs. Turner. When I came down for breakfast, my Mom had fixed pancakes. “I’m going to visit Mrs. Turner today,” I said with my mouth full. “That’s sweet of you. I’m afraid she’s often lonely, with her family living so far away. Be sure and invite her for Thanksgiving dinner, if her family is not coming home this year.” “Sure”, I told my Mom as I finished the last piece of pancake. “How do you make pumpkin pie?”, I asked. “Most of the ingredients we already have like eggs and flour. The only thing we would need is some canned pumpkin.”
I ran upstairs and got some money from my allowance and walked to Mr. Marshall’s store. I got a can of pumpkin, a pie pan and headed to Mrs. Turner’s house. When I got there I knocked on the door and Mrs. Turner told me to come in. I told her what happened the day before. “I was looking out the window when those boys came,” said Mrs. Turner. “I saw you with them.” “I’m sorry,” I said as I handed her the bag with the pumpkin and the new pie pan. “What happened to the pie pan?” she asked. “You don’t want to know,” I said.
“Fair enough. Will you stay and help me make a new pie?” I stayed a long time. We made two pies. Mrs. Turner said I could take one home for our Thanksgiving dinner. I asked her if her family was coming for Thanksgiving and she smiled and said, “No.” Mrs. Turner picked up the second pie and said, “I will probably have to freeze half of my pie.” I remembered what my Mom had said and invited Mrs. Turner to come and have Thanksgiving with us. “Why, Jonathan, I’d love to!”
“You’re not going to tell my parents what I did, are you?” Mrs. Turner didn’t answer for a while. Finally, she said, “I don’t think that will be necessary.”
The story of Mrs. Turner’s Pumpkin Pie makes me think about what Thanksgiving is all about. We need to be thankful for all that we have and always remember those who are lonely and by themselves. This story is about “grace.” Christ died so that we would have grace. Grace is something that we don’t deserve, but it is something that was freely given to each of us.
Thanksgiving is a time to think about others and to give thanks for all that we have.
Thanksgiving is the time to thank God for loving us so much that he gave us His son to die upon the cross for all the things we have done wrong.
This year as you sit around your Thanksgiving table, remember the story about the pumpkin pie, and give thanks for all the Mrs. Turners’ and for Jesus offering each of us grace.
Happy Thanksgiving