In 2004, GOD led me to invite people I knew to come to my apartment for Thanksgiving. They were welcome for breakfast, lunch, or dinner — whatever worked for them. This way, they’d have a place to go. Then, GOD provided for me to buy the ingredients to make the food for those who would come. I was a bit concerned because my table had four chairs, I had a stool and my office chair. How was I to seat everyone? Well, it turns out, I never had more than six people at a time. And I was never alone during the day. Some people would arrive as other people were leaving. And I did not run out of food, and I was not overwhelmed with a bunch of leftovers either!

A Heart for giving people a place to be for Thanksgiving

And so it began, my heart for giving people a place to be for Thanksgiving. I did this again in 2005. I also continued in 2006 while I could still afford to live in an apartment in the Bay Area. It wasn’t until 2014 that GOD laid it on my heart again. I approached the lead pastor at my church. I asked if I could host a meal there for those who did not have a place to go. We had 17 people that year.

• In 2015 I had just gotten out of the hospital, so the church’s “men’s house” hosted the night before Thanksgiving.
• In 2016, we had 24 people.
• In 2017, we had 23 people.
• In 2018, we had 41 people.
• In 2019, we had 42 people.
• In 2020, COVID happened so no gatherings.
• In 2021 and 2022, we had a big “Thanksgiving” potluck at the church on Sunday instead of on Thanksgiving day.
• And in 2023, “We had 46 people at the church for Thanksgiving dinner + 5 others who came just to play some games and eat appetizers.”, I announced on our church Facebook page.

Thanksgiving 2024

Wow oh Wow! This year, Thanksgiving wasn’t even on my radar. I didn’t pray about whether to have Thanksgiving dinner at church or not. At one point, I spoke to a lady from the Care Team at church. I asked if they were interested in helping with it again. She said that another lady from the Care Team and our lead pastor had already been talking about it. The Care Team agreed to step up if I was willing to host it again this year.

Sign-ups start

The first week, sign-ups were slow. We had about 20 people signed up by the second week and hardly anyone was bringing food.

I am not eating turkey anymore because I found that most meat causes higher pain levels for me. So was asking GOD if I should cook the turkeys again this year or if I should do something else. The second Sunday, one of the ladies who had signed up the week before asked me, “What can I help you purchase?” I asked her if she wanted to buy the turkey. She said, “only if we buy it at Harry’s Hofbrau!” I was taken a little aback. “You mean, already baked???”, I asked. She said, “Of course, I’m not going to buy a turkey you have to cook!” Unfortunately, Harry’s Hofbrau no longer had turkeys available, so I searched online for other restaurants and some stores. I had her on the phone as I searched and thought we were buying from one store. I put one pre-baked turkey in my “cart”. She then asked about another store. I looked there, but I was going to have to go in-person to buy it. So, I went back to the original store and put a turkey in my cart because nothing was showing. Then at the checkout, there were suddenly two pre-baked turkeys. I went to take one out and she asked the cost. I let her know and she said, “I will just get two!” Yay JESUS! I was excited that I was not going to have to bake a turkey.

This year is going to be bigger than past years!

The third week, we had 10 more sign up. I found out that our Spanish church plant had 30 people coming. We were suddenly at 60 people. The most I have ever hosted were 46 people! In the past, I would have been stressed out. BUT GOD has given me an overwhelming peace. I feel an excitement this year. I was to trust Him, no matter what!

Sign-ups for food have been slower than the sign-ups for people coming, which has caused some concern to the team. Again, in the past, I would have been stressed. But this year I have an overwhelming confidence. I know that GOD will supply. He may even need to miraculously multiply the food. (I have seen it happen!)

Even before I knew that 60 people would be signing up, I had decided I would make 72 deviled eggs. They always get eaten and sometimes people at the back of the line don’t get one. Another lady asked what she could pay for. I asked her if she wanted to buy the eggs, so she paid for the eggs. I got 5 dozen at Costco. I figured that my Care Provider could help me make them. But then, another lady also signed up for deviled eggs. I asked her if she’d be willing to make 72 if I gave her the eggs. And she was willing to do that, so I did not have to make deviled eggs, though I did make 24, just in case.

By the week of Thanksgiving, we had sign-ups for two pre-baked turkeys and a ham. We also had 75 tamales and a roasted chicken. Additionally, we had all the sides and desserts. Ten more people signed up. Seventy people signed up to join us for dinner. I also had about six or so people say they might be there. I felt we would have enough food. GOD has always provided enough food plus leftovers for people to take home!

On Monday before Thanksgiving, we had 79 signed up to attend the dinner. I texted back and forth with one of the ladies from the Care Team about food. She was concerned we didn’t have enough turkey and her mom’s caregiver was looking into trying to find another one. I told her that I wasn’t concerned about it and not to worry about it. We would make do, there would be much fewer leftovers to give out, but it was ok.

Around 5 pm, I got a group text from the lady I had been texting with. “Guess what I just won?”. I jokingly texted, “a turkey?” She responded with a picture of a Thanksgiving giveaway contest for a complete holiday turkey dinner. “I entered late yesterday just on a whim and just got notified a little while ago that I won! Whole meal!” Then, “So, I’m contributing that to Thursday! Picking it up at Lunardi’s Thursday morning.” I text back, “I knew GOD was going to provide enough food! HE IS SO AWESOME! Thank you for sharing.”

I laughed and cried at the same time after I reread her text. I looked multiple times at the contest she had entered. She said that when she entered it that she thought there was no way she would win, but if she did that, she would bring it to the dinner at the church.

Soon after her texts, another text came in that two hams were purchased instead of one. Yay JESUS!

Make it 100 people!

The day before Thanksgiving, I got a clear message from GOD. We would feed 100. I wasn’t supposed to say anything to anyone. This was confirmed when the ladies putting together the plasticware said they made 100 sets. That’s also the day I found out that the dinner was posted online for people to see.

I was getting a little bit stressed by then. I did not feel I was a good hostess for the 46 who came the year before. I’d rather be in the kitchen getting stuff ready for the meal! I really needed GOD’s peace to move forward.

GOD showing up and showing off!

We still needed food – especially if we were going to feed 100 people! BUT GOD showed up and showed off!! I got a text from our lead pastor’s wife who bought extra food and left it at the church. Then about 2:40 pm, I was told to “come look what that family brought”. They apparently are caterers. They brought a whole beef brisket. They also brought 8 large pans filled with scalloped potatoes, sweet potato pie, and other food! One woman, who was possibly homeless, found us online. She brought a bag full of things that she personally microwaved at the church. She put out green beans, some nacho cheese, and some other items on the tables. (Reminds me of the widow in one of JESUS’ stories who brought all that she had, a widow’s mite, and gave more than all the rich people!)

I’m not going to tell you it was a perfect evening. The team butted heads often, we were “short staffed” and unorganized. There was no one to greet the people formerly or to make people feel welcomed. We had a breaker trip which slowed the warming process down – A LOT!

LOOK FOR THE GOOD

It’s easy to go on with the negative, BUT GOD is teaching me to look at the good. A woman who came with her daughter not only asked how she could help, but she also told me that her church does similar type dinners. She gave me some wonderful tips on how to better organize the volunteers if we have another dinner like this. The people were very hungry because of the delayed meal. Still, they were pleasant and seemed to be enjoying themselves talking amongst each other. One of my friends encouraged me to sit and eat. She told me to “go rest now” as she took pictures for me. Then her family got up together to help serve dessert.

Also, GOD granted me freedom from the migraine that was causing dizziness and nausea. I had mostly low pain while I was moving. I did not cry like I thought I would. For the most part, I had peace through the day.

When I got home, I told GOD that I did not want to do this again. It’s too much for me and our team is way too small to do all the work for this event. I complained about the things I saw that were missing in my skills. And I also complained to Him about how I felt things were missing at our Thanksgiving dinner.

In His grace, He let me see that He was pleased with the work. He was happy with the meal that was shared. He saw the faith our little team had to let me lead them. He saw the faith and trust that I had in Him. I knew He would provide, even when there would be more people to feed than we had food for.

Counting the people

From what I can tell from the pictures, 98 people attended the church for Thanksgiving dinner. And one hundred people were fed. This count includes one person who came just to get food for two others. They would have been at the dinner if his wife had not gotten ill.

GOD is not looking for us to have it all together. He is looking for those who have His heart for the lonely, the homeless, the family who doesn’t have enough money for a nice holiday meal, for the single who doesn’t have a family to be with, and for those who just want to be known and loved. I have a heart to give people a place to be for Thanksgiving. I’m not wonderfully skilled at the details of everything. And I have a few people working with me who have hearts to see others succeed in their GOD goals. That’s the kind of people GOD is looking for. So we were chosen. And I was extremely blessed to be part of GOD’s heart to feed 100 people for Thanksgiving 2024!

How have you been a part of doing the work of GOD’s heart in 2024?