Thanksgiving in the Keys

I am thankful for all my friends, family, and the wonderful, interesting people who enter my life.

I've been helping around the church this week.  We packed and distributed 100 Thanksgiving boxes to needy families in our community.  How do you determine who is "needy?"  I suppose a lot of folks would want to help someone "deserving."  I also figure none of us want to feel like we are being taken advantage of.

Our boxes had a lot more stuff than I could list, designed to feed a large family or share with others.  Each box had a turkey, a roasting pan, yams, stuffing, green beans, canned vegetables, cranberries, pie crusts, pumpkin filling, eggs, butter, cream, and all kinds of stuff, of which I'm not really sure.  (I wasn't packing the boxes, I was helping somewhere else.)

Some of the boxes were destined for folks who had been suggested to us by those who knew of families who had faced unexpected financial or medical hardships, who were silently struggling.

About half of the boxes were delivered. 

Some of the folks came in ahead of time and signed up for a box.  The Thanksgiving boxes the last couple of years have developed quite a following.  We had been turning away applicants for over a week, when we had reached our 100 box fund capacity.

There was a procedure in place to pick up a box.  You had to come into the office, show an id, and get a ticket to pick up the box, which was over in the fellowship hall where our packers were steadily working.  The ID was compared to the ID listed on the previously filled out form.

It was interesting, and heart breaking watching folks come and go, and those who aggressively asserted their rights to a box.   We had the full spectrum of personalities.  We had a few folks try to by pass the system.  We had one or two try to pick up an extra box.  We had a lot of folks who hadn't signed up for the box, they just wanted one. 

Most importantly, we served some really grateful people, who were thankful that from another's bounty they can share in a good Thanksgiving meal.

I named my boat MERCY to remind me (who is more inclined to call for justice) that if it were not for God's mercy, I would have nothing.  God didn't judge me, or declare me ineligible for His program, He just opened His plan to me.... and to all of the other undeserving people.  He put a plan in place for me to follow... and I have that opportunity to comply.  I can't by-pass His system, and I certainly can't bully my way into His mercy.

Tonight, I'm really thankful in the Keys.

How do you eat an elephant?

I know a lot of you were following MERCY's adventures as we were traveling in the Bahamas.  Many of you have emailed to check on me... several from folks I've never met.  I'm grateful for all you folks who are traveling with me in the blog. 

Due to problems with a broken Wi-Fi amp antenna, (which Randy Nial at Land and Sea Wi-Fi bent over backwards to get me back in business.... what a great service company!) and difficulties accessing internet where I was adventuring off the beaten path.  Oh, and let me blame having too much fun with too many friends, quality time with my dog, maintenance projects, and .... the excuses went on as the blog backed up.

My mom fell, broke her hip, had difficulty in surgery, and passed away while I was in the Bahamas.

I returned to the States, and went to spend a month with my Dad, whose grief over losing a spouse of 61 years was almost unbearable.

The growth along the canal needed trimming, the boat needed some projects, my freezer was lobster-less, requiring my immediate snorkeling attention.  I had a back log of commitments at my church, and...

The excuses and reasons kept piling up, as I got further and further behind on life's responsibilities, and the somewhat frivolous blog.

Have you ever been there?  So far behind on a project or a goal that you sort of give up on it?

A friend asked me, "How do eat an elephant?" 

"I dunno," I responded as I thought, "This friend does not realize the significance of all I've just said."

"One bite at a time."

My friend is right of course, make small achievable goals.  Chew, swallow, accomplished!  One bite, anyhow... So, my commitment is a somewhat small, achievable goal.  I will work on posting, editing, posting photos, re-formatting to make this thing more read-able, 15 minutes a day.

You may not see much as I try to fill in so much of the great adventures of the past, unless you are noticing changes in past posts and photo adds.  This blog is about places and people, and adventures, not about maintenance and difficulties.  We all have them. 

Hope you'll enjoy some of the updates!