Members of the Gospel Lighthouse Church in Blytheville, Arkansas were preparing
to serve Thanksgiving dinner to the needy in their area.
"Fifteen or twenty families had brought our own turkey and trimmings to the
church to share, and had made extra food," explains Jeanne Templeton. Word had
spread, and the volunteers expected a crowd. Would there be enough to go around?
About eleven, church members took their places in the food line, and someone
opened the kitchen door. People streamed in, each taking a plate and passing it
along, cafeteria-style. So many guests! Jeanne sliced turkey, scooped mashed
potatoes - and sent a silent prayer heavenward. Lord, let the food last!
Time passed, but the needy kept arriving. Odd, Jeanne mused. They weren't
running out of anything. Even the pans of dressing, which had been few in number
when dinner began, still seemed full. She caught the eye of a perplexed friend
spooning vegetables from a seemingly bottomless bowl. What was going on?
Finally, the last guest accepted a brimming plate. Jeanne looked at her watch.
Four o'clock! It couldn't be! And there was still food remaining. Baffled, the
women packed the left-overs.
"The men carried everything to the church buses, and drove away," Jeanne
recalls.
"They would go door to door, to make sure no one in the area had missed
Thanksgiving dinner." The women went back to the empty kitchen and, still
somewhat dazed, scoured, tidied and compared notes.
"Was it my imagination.?"
"No, I saw it too---the turkeys seemed to---to multiply!"
"But we had only six or seven. How.?"
"Two thousand," Jeanne murmured. "I think we fed almost two thousand people."
Just then a knock sounded on the kitchen door. A volunteer opened it to a man, a
woman and eight young children, all shabbily dressed. "We're a little late," the
man acknowledged shyly. "Would you have anything left from dinner?"
Oh, no! The women glanced around the spotless kitchen. All the food was
gone-they had put it on the buses themselves. But they couldn't turn this hungry
group away. "Come and sit down," one helper led the family to a table, while the
others quickly conferred. Perhaps there was a store open, or a restaurant in
town where they could buy something.
Suddenly someone pointed. "Look!"
The others turned to stare. Sitting on a counter in plain view was a freshly
baked loaf of bread. It had not been there moments before, Jeanne knew. But no
one had come to the kitchen except the family, and they had been empty-handed.
"How did we miss this?" Jeanne's friend cried in astonishment. She had found an
industrial-sized can of green beans and corn in a cupboard. Another woman peeked
under a cabinet. There on a shelf she had previously cleaned now sat a large
tray of dressing with big chunks of cut-up turkey in it.
"We packed up the containers and sent the family home to enjoy their holiday,"
Jeanne says. Then, tears spilling down their cheeks, the women praised the Lord
for His wonderful care. They had offered Him an early birthday present, by
caring for the least of His children. But He had multiplied their gift a
hundred-fold, and given them a Thanksgiving they would never forget.
Joan Wester Anderson angelwak@earthlink.net
http://joanwanderson.com
* * * This story appeared in the December 1996 issue of Woman's Day Magazine,
and was later dramatized on the Pax TV show, It's a Miracle.
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