A Thanksgiving lesson

Yesterday I gave a ride to two friends from Circles of Hope, an organization I volunteer for that works to eliminate poverty one family at a time. One of the friends is my Circle leader. Both women are in poverty and working hard to get by.
Let's call them R and J. We stop in Wichita at Open Door, a ministry of the United Methodist Church. Those qualified--and they have the paperwork to prove it--receive a turkey (size based on how many are in the person's household) and a sack of groceries. Although there are many people there, it's well organized, and the process moves quickly. We're there about 20 minutes. As we drive away and head to another wonderful organization--Victory in the Valley, which offers help to poor people who have cancer (J is being treated for cancer)--J comments that because of  some good fortune, they have an extra turkey.
A few days earlier, J's daughter and R stopped at an organization in Newton, where we all live (20 miles north of Wichita), and learned they had 10 turkeys left, so the two young women took one home. This is the extra that J was referring to. The three of them, plus a few others, planned to have Thanksgiving dinner together today.
I responded to J's comment of having an extra turkey by saying, "Eat it. Leftovers are good." I'm thinking, These people are barely scraping by each month, depending on the services of churches and others who give out boxes of food each month, since their disability payments (R is also recovering from cancer) aren't nearly enough.
Then R says, without hesitation, "We'll give it (the extra turkey) to someone who doesn't have one." And she mentions someone she knows who needs one.
She said this matter-of-factly, without accusation. Still, I felt humbled, awakened to my natural tendency to just accept more for myself instead of thinking of others.
Scripture commands (or suggests, if that's more acceptable) us to be thankful at all times. This is difficult, to say the least. While I believe in this practice (and fail at it regularly), I also believe it's a good practice to have special days for offering thanks. Like today.
So let me offer these thanks:
• I'm thankful for the many organizations that give food to people in need. And the ones I witnessed yesterday do this cheerfully, without looking down on those they're serving.
• I'm thankful to be friends with people in poverty. They have so much to teach me, and they are so patient with my blindness to people's needs. They're always thankful for the help I offer, and they're always reluctant to ask for help. They are courageous and inspiring.
 • I'm thankful today for family and friends, and I pray for the many in our land who don't have people close by to share a meal with.
Happy Thanksgiving.