Giving Thanks

 

Back in July I wrote about Finding Your 'White Whale’ in connection with a Facebook video I’d seen of a lady searching her local USA thrift shops for her ultimate treasure: what she called her, ‘white whale’.

It so happens that I was in the USA back in May and, feeling somewhat inspired by a slew of such videos, I determined to trawl the shelves of the American version of charity shops for myself.  Armed with a firm resolve and an acute awareness of the space or otherwise in my suitcase for hauling bargains back across the pond, I entered my first thrift shop.

The place was vast.  Think Superstore size.  Crammed with clothes, shoes, hats, accessories etc arranged over two-thirds of the space.  The rest included furniture, homeware and a glorious mish-mash of stationery, home decor items, art works, children’s toys and who-knows-what else.

Surprisingly, I didn’t see any books in the store but maybe I just ran out of time.  I spent a very happy couple of hours rummaging through as much as I could, but declined the clothes section.

My favourite section was the seasonal decor, mostly because I’m such a sucker for Christmas and a great believer in decorating for that annual milestone.  I’m probably just trying to hold on to any remnant of childhood magic and the green-and-red theme always hits the spot for me (not a big fan of tinsel but that’s another story).  

I emerged, blinking into the Californian sunshine, juggling bags and pleased with my treasures.  However, it was only when I got back to our US base that I began to think about an item or two I hadn’t bought but wished I had.  Thanks to the patient husband who loves me more than I deserve, I returned the next day, dashed in and found that the two items will still there.

You may well laugh, but these two ceramic turkeys not only caught my eye but made it back to England swathed in newspaper and items of clothing, in one piece.  I realise that the November celebration of Thanksgiving is a specifically US event, but we have been talking about thankfulness a lot recently, particularly discussing the difference between being grateful and rejoicing.  I’ll leave that with you for now.

The turkey friends are now facing each other on my window sill, serving to remind me to be grateful, which is the essence of this rather rambling post.  I am grateful for many things but when it comes to my writing, what does that look like?

Having a laptop is something I’m thankful for – fewer messy crossed out passages or arrows indicating necessary shifts or swaps; less likelihood of losing vital pieces of paper.  I’m grateful for ideas that have grown and developed into actual articles, blogs, columns, stories and books.

When my first book was published in 2020, I was over the moon; positively oozing with a mixture of excitement and thankfulness. It was something I’d dreamed of since I was in primary school.  Now I even sometimes get paid for the things I write, which is a huge leap on from when I first sat down as an empty-nester knowing that at last I had time and space to prioritise writing.  Doors have opened into schools and radio since then too.

Sometimes we can be so engrossed in getting words on a page or screen; slogging through our ‘to do’ lists and fending off overwhelm that thankfulness can disappear from our thoughts.  My stateside turkeys are helping remind me to stop from time to time, take a breath, savour what’s unfolded so far and give God thanks for it before I press on into the next chapters He has for me, literal and otherwise.

What are you thankful for in regard to your writing, today?  I’d love to know.

Jenny Sanders has spent the last twelve years living between the UK and South Africa. She writes faith-inspired non-fiction: Spiritual Feasting (2020) asks how we can ‘feast’ when life serves unpalatable menus; Polished Arrows (2024), explores the allegory of God shaping us to be fired effectively into our culture and contexts.              

   

Jenny also has two published collections of humorous short stories for Key Stage 2 children: The Magnificent Moustache and other stories, and, Charlie Peach’s Pumpkins and other stories. She is available for author visits and creative writing sessions in primary schools.  She loves walking in nature, preferably by a river, and has a visceral loathing for offal, pineapple and incorrect use of car indicators on roundabouts.