Dan and Regina raised nine...
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Dan and Regina raised nine children, a niece, and a brother during the Depression. Living in the dry prairies was no picnic. Often, food was scarce, clothes were patched, passed down, and worn until they were rags, and there was no money for any extras.
Regina related how they lived for the relief trains that came through town, from time to time. These trains brought barrels of used clothing from the east, apples from the west, flour, and potatoes. Regina was a master with the sewing machine, ripping old clothes apart to fashion a "new" wardrobe for her brood. She invented all sorts of recipes for potato and flour dishes.
Regina's grandson once asked her: "Weren't you bitter at your misfortune?" Regina responded that every day she thanked God for her children and her niece and brother who lived with them. Daily, she thanked God for life and for the opportunity to love her family. She thanked God for the Bible, one of the few books in the house, which was read at the table each morning and evening, and was the basis of the children's bedtime stories.
"No," she said. "I wasn't bitter. I had too much to be thankful for to be bitter."
That is what Paul meant by "give thanks in all circumstances."
Regina related how they lived for the relief trains that came through town, from time to time. These trains brought barrels of used clothing from the east, apples from the west, flour, and potatoes. Regina was a master with the sewing machine, ripping old clothes apart to fashion a "new" wardrobe for her brood. She invented all sorts of recipes for potato and flour dishes.
Regina's grandson once asked her: "Weren't you bitter at your misfortune?" Regina responded that every day she thanked God for her children and her niece and brother who lived with them. Daily, she thanked God for life and for the opportunity to love her family. She thanked God for the Bible, one of the few books in the house, which was read at the table each morning and evening, and was the basis of the children's bedtime stories.
"No," she said. "I wasn't bitter. I had too much to be thankful for to be bitter."
That is what Paul meant by "give thanks in all circumstances."
