This week between Thanksgiving and Advent has been very special for many of us. Tonight is guest post by Pastor Mark Warda. Mark is a member of the pastoral team at Woodland Church, a good friend, and a passionate follower of Christ.

Take My Hand

1 Thessalonians 3:9 (NLT) “How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence.”

There’s a story of a first-grade teacher giving her class an assignment to draw a picture of something for which they were thankful.  Most of the class drew pictures of the holiday feast they would be enjoying, except for one child.  Instead of drawing a turkey and all the other goodies, he drew just an empty hand.  The teacher and the class wondered whose hand could it be?  One by one they made different guesses; a police officer, a farmer, or maybe it was the hand of God, for he feeds us.  Later that day the teacher asked the young boy, whose hand it was.  The little boy answered, “it’s yours”.  She then recalled how she would often say, “take my hand, we’ll go outside,” or, “let me show you how to hold your pencil.”  Or, “let’s do this together.” 

Thanksgiving … [is] a great time to pause and give God thanks for all the blessings in our lives.  We often don’t end up where we are in life without the needed help of those in our lives.  Maybe it was a teacher who helped you in one of your classes, or a friend who gave you advice, or maybe it was a pastor who walked with you through a tough time in your life.  When we take the hand of someone else, they help us to go farther.

There’s an African Proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.”  We need one another in our lives to help us through the journey of life.  When we take the time to look back, we should give thanks to God for placing those individuals in our life.   Let me encourage you, give God thanks for those that have offered you to take their hand and help you in the past.  Call them or send them a note and share with them how they have made an impact in your life.  Finally, look for ways to offer your hand to others this Thanksgiving.