Who Robs A Food Bank?
The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reports:
A local nonprofit is in dire need of help after thieves broke into its food pantry last weekend and walked away with office equipment and cleared out its shelves.
Larry Kapchinsky, the co-founder of KidCare International, estimates this has set back the pantry about $20,000. Now he’s asking the community to help them feed needy families this holiday season.
“A whole year of preparing for this season got wiped out in one night,” he said … Kapchinsky said he was in disbelief when the volunteer called to tell him the news. “Who steals from a food bank? We would have given them help if they just asked,” he said.
Kapchinsky says the suspects went into the freezer and took almost all the items, leaving unwanted items in the freezer. Those items went to waste because the freezer door stayed open.
“What they didn’t steal, they trashed,” he said.
Some people would rather resort to desperate measures, including stealing from a food bank, rather than ask for the help they need.
But thanksgiving begins with a willingness to receive. Don’t rob God of the gratitude He is due because you don’t know how to receive what has been freely given to you. And understand that even more valuable than all of the things the world has to offer is the possession of a grateful heart. Gratitude makes us rich. Possessing the whole world, without the proper gratitude toward God, leaves us poor.
“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36).
Always A Reason To Be Thankful
A cowboy was riding his stallion down a dirt road when a police officer flashed his lights and pulled him over. He said, "Sir, I have been trying to pull you over for a mile. Do you know that your wife fell off the horse, a mile down the road?" The cowboy smiled and replied, "Thank God, I thought for a moment that I had become deaf."
In every season of life, we can find a reason to be thankful!
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).
Additional Application:
If you're having a difficult time hearing God's voice, make sure you haven't left Him somewhere back down the road!
"The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful" (Matthew 13:22).
It's Stinky to Be Unthankful
Have you ever noticed how kids who don't like to share or express gratitude are often called "spoiled." What happens to an egg when it gets spoiled? It might look fine on the outside but let's see what it's like on the inside ...
You need to plan ahead for this object lesson by leaving a raw egg out on the counter for several days. Draw a sad face on the spoiled, “stinky” egg. Draw a happy face on a fresh egg. Explain to the children that the spoiled, stinky egg doesn’t like to share and isn't thankful. Crack the egg in a bowl so kids can smell the stinky insides. In another bowl, crack the fresh egg. Let kids see how the fresh egg looks and smells.
We might all look the same on the outside, but when we are ungrateful and unwilling to give thanks to God or others, we become spoiled. Our hearts and attitudes can be just as stinky as this spoiled egg. God longs for all of us to give thanks. When we do, our hearts and minds will stay fresh.
"For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened" (Romans 1:21).