Grateful for Relationships

As we ponder thankfulness this Thanksgiving season, I am thankful that God created us for relationship with Himself and relationship with other human beings. Relationships make life so much better.

I recently flew to Texas to visit my sister and her family. I would later fly with her and her husband to a wedding in Tennessee. As I stood in the TSA line for a security check for the first part of my journey, I chatted with the woman behind me. It was the first time I had flown anywhere in five years. I discovered that this woman behind me was returning to Asheville, North Carolina, after dropping her daughter at a college in my state.

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This friendly woman behind me gave me some helpful tips about current TSA procedures. When I suddenly realized my required ID was not in its usual place and panicked at the thought that I may have left it at the baggage check counter, she calmly suggested that I check other places I may have put it. I soon found it in the envelope where I had put my boarding pass. After passing through the metal detector, I somehow faced the wrong conveyor belt. My kind new acquaintance clued me in. Hard telling when I would have realized my belongings were actually on the other conveyor belt.

After successfully making it through TSA and reading the myriad of new overhead signs to locate the right concourse and gate in our newly remodeled airport, I finally found the seating area to await boarding my flight. After boarding the plane, a considerate man volunteered to put my carry-on bag in the overhead space. The amiable young man seated next to me on the flight accidentally spilled a little of his soda on me. He was very apologetic. I assured him it was no big deal. I was glad my pants were dark-colored.

After arriving in Texas, I later found out that things in Asheville, North Carolina, were floating as a result of the flooding caused by Hurricane Helene. I thought of that kind lady from Asheville who had helped me in the TSA line and prayed that she and her property would be safe.

On the flight to Tennessee, I was not seated with my sister and brother-in-law. A congenial young mom occupied the seat next to me. Our conversation led to her telling me of her desire to home school her children. I verbally applauded her and told her of a book I had reviewed called The 4-Hour School Day. I noticed that tears began to well up in her eyes as we prepared to leave the plane. She expressed her feeling that God had arranged our meeting.

Some very hospitable people related to us by marriage had offered to pick us up at the Knoxville, Tennessee, airport and take us in for a couple of days. In their lovely rural setting they raised calves. They had donkeys that would keep coyotes away from the calves. These accommodating people fed us, took us shopping, and then transported us to a hotel close to the wedding venue.

At the hotel where our hosts had left us, a woman with a basket containing a bed pillow and some other unknown items joined me on the elevator. Assuming she worked at the hotel, I asked if she was just beginning her shift. Her unexpected reply was that she was alive but had to evacuate from Asheville. She seemed to be just grateful to be alive. She asked me to pray for the victims of the flooding. I told her that I had already prayed and assured her that I would continue to pray.

Sometimes it seems that human compassion is much more reliable than the government. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was accused of an inadequate response to Hurricane Helene victims. Although the President said that accusations of FEMA funds being used on illegal immigrants were ridiculous, former U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard stated in an interview that on September 16^th White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre informed us that FEMA funds were being used for “humanitarian” issues for the immigrants. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson clarified that the current administration has established a FEMA fund separate from the disaster relief fund called the “Shelter and Services Program.” Also, others say that deadlines for applying for help for past emergencies have been given long extensions, tying up funds.

I was grateful that Samaritan’s Purse Ministry, “Dr. Phil” McGraw, and Elon Musk responded with compassion to the Hurricane Helene victims. Hurricane Milton followed on the heels of Hurricane Helene, creating great needs in the state of Florida. The President did visit Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton. Although many like to say “Global Warming” is causing an increase in intensity of hurricanes, Governor de Santis of Florida seemed to “blow the theory out of the water.” He listed some hurricanes in Florida’s history that were very severe.

By God’s grace, the wedding my sister and brother-in-law and I planned to attend in Tennessee was in a safe area. There were flooded areas close by, due to the effects of Hurricane Helene. The wedding ceremony was held in a beautiful meadow, close to a “barn” tastefully and beautifully decorated with a “shabby chic” theme. The post-wedding dinner with delicious and tender brisket and pulled pork would be served in the barn. Though the sky had threatened to drop rain during the ceremony, God graciously held it back until about 30 seconds after the ceremony ended.

After returning to Texas, my sister and I were able to join a busload of mostly seniors and a few younger people from her church to ride to Branson, Missouri. The purpose of the trip was to see the musical play called Esther, presented by Sight and Sound Theatres.

Shortly after the bus departed for Branson, one woman discovered her purse was unzipped and the wallet containing her phone and credit cards had apparently fallen out. Was it lying on the seat of her car? Was it lying in the parking lot? Others sprang into action to try to contact someone in the church office and ask them to check the parking lot and the car.

The wallet wasn’t sighted, so the woman could only hope it was on the floorboard of her car where it wasn’t visible. A couple of people offered to give her a little money to cover her meals while on the trip, since she hadn’t brought much cash. I offered to text her some of my photos of the trip so she would have them as a memento of the trip. There seemed to be a spirit of love and unity on board the bus.

Shared laughter seems to be very therapeutic. There are some things at which only close family members or friends can laugh together hysterically. My sister and I share some of that laughter. We laugh at silly things, such as accidentally dropping a bottle of water on the floor of the bus and trying to pick it up with your feet because the space is too small to bend over and pick it up.

The word “amazing” seems inadequate to describe the play Esther. The singing voices were excellent, the script was great, and the sets and costumes were unbelievable. The beautiful sets surrounded us at least 180 degrees. They even had real trained birds that flew through certain scenes.

My sister and I took the option to attend an evening show called “The Duttons.” It was a family of 25 or 30 people, who all seemed to have more talent in their little fingers than most of us have in our whole bodies. It appeared that most of them could sing, dance, and play about four different musical instruments. The group was started by a then-76-year-old woman and her then-86-year-old husband, who had begun to take a back seat to their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. About eight of them stood side-by-side and played their violins behind their backs. I wondered if the family members ever went on a date without first having an audition.

One woman in the Dutton family told of her battle with cancer and that of her little son. She spoke of her strong faith in God. The theatre had suffered a fire, requiring family members to roll up their sleeves and help with some of the renovation.

After all the fun in Branson, our bus arrived safely back in Texas. The woman who couldn’t find her wallet found it on the floor of her car. All was well. I still had a couple of days to spend with my sister and brother-in-law before reluctantly returning home to my everyday responsibilities. We spent some time reminiscing about people we had known in the past.

While waiting to board my flight home, I spoke to a woman sitting nearby. As it turned out, she and some others on the flight had been in Branson with their church group for a week. They had been at the same performance of Esther. What a fun coincidence! We shared comments about the play.

After boarding my final flight, to return home, I was so grateful when a young man jumped from his seat to boost my carry-on bag up into the overhead bin. I was also grateful that the polite, very tall young man in the aisle seat next to me (whose knees touched the seat in front of him) was still kindly when I had to awaken him later in the flight to allow me to get into the aisle to make a trip to the plane’s teeny-tiny restroom.

As wonderful as human relationships are, a relationship with God is more important and more consequential. Romans 5:10 tells us that anyone can choose to be reconciled to God because of Jesus’ death on the cross to pay for our sins. The most famous verse in all the Bible, John 3:16, promises eternal life to those who believe in God’s Son, Jesus. Romans 10:9 & 10 further explain that if we verbally confess our faith in Jesus and believe in our hearts that God the Father raised Him from the dead, we are promised salvation.

A relationship with God is also more reliable. Human relationships are sometimes marred by misunderstandings, disagreements, selfishness, dishonesty, etcetera—especially when the fruit of the Holy Spirit that should be present in believers (Galatians 5:23-24) is absent. James 4:8 tells us that if we will draw near to God, He will draw near to us. James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” [KJV]

II Chronicles 16:9 states that the eyes of the Lord roam the earth to give strength to all those who have devoted their hearts fully to Him. Matthew 10:30 informs us that God even numbers the hairs on our heads. In the same chapter, verses 29 and 31 reveal that God even sees every sparrow that falls and that each of us is much more valuable than many sparrows.

In John 15:14, Jesus said, “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” [KJV] Things seem very chaotic in our nation right now—and even the whole world. But Jesus promised in Matthew 28:20 that He would be with His friends to the end of the age. Thessalonians 4:13-18 and I Corinthians 15:50-54 indicate that Jesus will snatch up the believers into Heaven before He returns to the earth. II Peter 3:9 explains that God has delayed Jesus’ return to earth because He wants to give more time for everyone to repent and believe.

Romans 1:20 makes it clear that, because of the awesome world God created, no one has any excuse for their lack of belief in God. In Jeremiah 29:13, God promises that we will find Him when we seek Him with our whole hearts.

There is no greater privilege than having a relationship with Jesus. He is the One who left the glories of Heaven to come down to earth in a human body and suffer a cruel death to save us from eternal punishment for our sin, if only we believe in Him and try to follow His ways. Anyone who has found a relationship with Jesus should be very thankful. Below is a video with a very meaningful medley of hymns about the care of Jesus.