Wednesday, November 24, 2010

of thanks and giving

The skin on my knuckles is broken from fighting -- in church. Wait; let me explain... Our family had time to waste while waiting for people to arrive. My youngest son and I rolled up newspapers to use as swords while waiting. I am an amazingly proficient warrior when fighting children who weigh less than one hundred pounds. I am less proficient when my hand slams into a heavy wooden door. Especially when said wooden door is being kicked open from the other side. I forfeited the match, and we drank hot chocolate instead.

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You might already know that Mrs. Craver and I are the directors for a food and clothing pantry. A manager from our local Jewel food store contacted us about donating precooked meals for people in need. I think this is the third year they've done this. There were twelve meals the first time, and eight the following year. This time he said they would give away TWENTY NINE meals!! I had to take the seats out of the van to fit them all, and we just made it with the meal boxes going wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling. They actually gave us thirty-one boxes, not twenty-nine. Way to go, Jewel!!

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This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for many things. And that includes all those people and organizations like Jewel who sacrifice a little to help a friend in need. I pray a special blessings for those homes who find themselves having a hard time this season.

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Above, we see Mrs. Craver, Brother Greg and D2. Normally, we like to deliver these to peoples' houses, but this time it was just too much, so D2 did a marvelous job of calling people to come pick up their meal boxes. Greg and his kids helped with distribution.

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Oh, and the idea for swordfighting with newspaper came from Greg and the kids. Only, he managed to come through it unscathed.

14 comments:

happyone said...

What a wonderful thing to do.
A very Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

George said...

God bless Jewel and the people who helped make these meals possible. And God bless you and your family for the good work you are doing. And be careful with those newspaper swords.

imac said...

Its do nice to hear about folk who help and work for the good of other less fortunate than oueselves, well done to all involved my friend.

As for the paper sword fight - serves you right,Paper against wood - one never should.lol.

Gaelyn said...

Bless you and your family and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Pastor Dave said...

sweet!!

Chris said...

Wow you are.... very very nice... What a great thing to help others... I'm proud of you mate! Have a nice thanksgiving!

Wendy said...

I have a tear in my eye, how very kind and wonderful to help those who are not fortunate enough to have a Thanksgiving dinner. We need more people like you, Mrs. Craver and Jewel in the world :)

DeniseinVA said...

A very special Thanksgiving Craver. You are all the jewels in this world. The sword fighting sounds like fun, sore knuckles aside :)

DeniseinVA said...

I meant to add may you all have a Very Happy Thanksgiving!

mommanator said...

we are in such a country where things like this can be done. Praises

Craver Vii said...

Happyone, I appreciate the kindness of all the people who help make these things happen, especially those who give past their comfort zones. Blessings to you and yours, as well.

I'll try to be careful with the newspaper swords George, but now the boy is wanting us to make shields, too. We'll start with the lids from plastic bins, and I think I may know a way to fasten grips on the buckler.

Thank you, Imac. I'll try to remember your words of wisdom. :-)

And blessings to you too, Gaelyn. I added one vacation day to the weekend, so that I could stay home with them on Monday, too.

Good times, Mr. Dave!

Craver Vii said...

To help and be helped makes a community desirable. Chris, my family and I have been blessed by the kindness of others, in one form or other, many times.

Too kind, Wendy. We are just regular folk. The beauty is to see how a little bit here, and a little bit there... it adds up. And it is especially cool to find out that a gift came just in time for someone. I love to hang out with people and hear their stories. Ultimately, it is all for the glory of the Lord.

The knuckles are better, Denise. They're badges of honor, really. I hope you and Gregg have a fantastic time this weekend, and that your family plans all go well.

I wonder Mommanator... wouldn't it be nice to hear what kinds of things, similar to this, are going on all around the world? I'm sure stuff is happening, we just need to find folks who can share their stories.

lime said...

what a wonderful thing. so glad to hear that in these trying times one of your regular donors is stepping up to do even more than they have in the past.

Anonymous said...

Praise God for this! I am sorry I couldn't be in the Pantry yesterday or that day....just trying to get adjusted to time here.