Thanksgiving morning found me,
Before the crack of dawn,
Fixing a simple breakfast
Before the day wore on.
I sprinkled in my Cheerios,
Then poured the milk, but wait—
The stamp upon the jug, I saw,
Was six days out of date!

Well, in this situation
There’s but one thing to do—
Give the milk a careful sniff
And check for chunks of goo;
And if it all still seems okay,
Then there really is no need
To worry any longer—
I say, let the meal proceed!

So, as I munch my cereal,
I begin my “Thankful List”,
And there upon the very top
Where it cannot go unmissed,
I write this happy sentence
In the early morning hour—
“I’m thankful my expired milk
Still does not taste sour!”

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Okay, okay, I wasn’t exactly up at the crack of dawn this Thanksgiving morning.  I slept in a bit.  Is that really such a crime?  I just wrote it that way because it fit better in the poem.  It had already dawned by the time I made it to my morning cereal.  The milk was expired, though, by just a few days. (Don’t look at the date in the picture above or remember what day Thanksgiving was on . . . !)  But I drink expired milk all the time.  I usually can’t finish a gallon before the expiration date. 

Told this to the guys at work one day.  They were split on what would be the “right” thing to do.  Some said they would throw it out.  A few of the logical ones said they would give it the ol’ sniff test.  I agree with them.

I also confessed my crime to a lady at church.  She stared at me with a look of horrified pity and later came by and gifted me a brand-new gallon.  Shhhhhh, don’t tell her, I probably drank that one after it had expired too!

Still, a week (or so) old is starting to push it.  But it smelled okay.  And wasn’t coagulating yet.  So, I poured the last of it in my bowl.  This experience, coupled with the Thanksgiving holiday, sparked a list of things I am grateful for.  Here are just a few:

I am thankful for the new roof on my house.  It was needed.  I am thankful that I was able to do it and saved a few thousand dollars by not hiring it out.  I am thankful I had the health, strength, and knowledge of how to accomplish the task.  When I say “I did it”, I do not mean I did it alone.  So, I am incredibly grateful for a supportive family that rallied and sacrificed to help complete the job.  What is more, with all that inexperience running around, I am very thankful the roof doesn’t leak!

Here are some others.  I am thankful for the community where I live, for the good neighbors, for the wide-open spaces.  I am grateful for the freedoms I enjoy, for the ability to chart a course of my own choosing, for the liberty to believe what I believe, and for truth that shines the way in an oft-confusing world.

And still the list continues with good food and clothes and a comfortable bed.  A car, career, and positive role models.  Adventures, friends, and quiet pondering places.  But strip it all away, and more than roofs or things, friends or stuff, more than freedoms or family or even unsour milk, I am eternally thankful for Jesus—

Who saves me every time I fall.

Written: Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 2020