Tag Archives: Thanksgiving

Gratitude offers a path to our resilience

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This has been a year for the history books. A pandemic of global proportions, storms and wildfires leaving ruins, economic upheaval, political divide, social injustice, civil unrest, and in dairy and agriculture supply chain disruptions, bankruptcies, dispersals, consolidations and exits.

God’s promises are the blessings through all personal and public loss. This year, we saw loss, but we also saw courage, care and giving. 

Whether or not we know someone who recovered from or was lost to Covid-19, we are reminded daily of the rising death toll, the rising number of positive cases. We are reminded daily of families facing evictions, still unemployed, of small businesses having to close, many for good. We see the rise in dairy herd dispersals and farm sales that were underway even before the pandemic. We see the shifting sands of rural landscapes. 

It’s a lot to take in, what 2020 has delivered. But notice how folks in the midst of ruin are often more thankful than those going about their daily lives without a problem or care?

A family losing home, belongings and memories to a disaster hold each other close in thankfulness. Citizens of a community devastated by storm help each other pick up the pieces. When a farmer is gravely ill, neighbors gather to harvest the crops. When lives are lost, loved ones are lifted up and memories are shared.

A thankful heart does not change the circumstances or stop the pain of loss, rather gratitude offers a path to our resilience. Without gratitude, there can be no hope. The bird that sings in the midst of a storm is no doubt thankful for its perch and made stronger by its song.

The act of giving thanks strengthens us.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving 2020, it will be different for many of us. For some, the normal family gatherings will occur, for others it will not. Some will mark a first Thanksgiving without a loved one. Others will be celebrating the addition of new family members. Many will be separated from gathering if a family member is under quarantine for the virus. Some will spend the day working in earnest to get a home or barn under roof before winter after devastating summer storms. Some will find it difficult to buy groceries and prepare a meal. Some will navigate political differences that have sharp edges and create splinters.

For my mother, it will be the first Thanksgiving without my younger sister. And, because of the pandemic, and a member of our family’s exposure to the virus, with her underlying health, mom will spend Thanksgiving alone — except for telephone, ‘hugs’ (and a meal) through the glass door, and prayer. Many of our elders will see Thanksgiving 2020 this way.

We are accustomed to the traditions of gathering around a meal – representing a celebration of harvest. We are accustomed to gathering as family, extended family, friends and community, of having the opportunity to look around at family, friends, home, hearth, sustenance, to readily count our blessings in conversation, see our blessings in the faces of children, feel them in the warmth of a hug.

But to give thanks in ALL things is an action we are reminded to engage in despite our circumstances.

The first Thanksgiving in 1621 was such an occasion after profound loss. The community meal with prayer and thanksgiving came after a first successful harvest, which had been preceded by the plague of disease, hunger and fear, followed by a spring and summer of drought. Faith continued. A harvest sustained them, and they gave thanks.

We live in a world today of high-tech distractions from the things that are most important. 2020 brought events that got our attention. Time stood still, and families spent time together.

Whether we are in the storm or seeing our way clear of it, a thankful heart opens us to faith, hope and optimism. A thankful heart gives strength to sing instead of sitting quietly to dwell in the dark.

“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” I Thessalonians 5:18

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him.” Psalms 28:7

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Love and hope, transplanted. Hearts full of thanks for gift of life

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Reese and kidney donor Alyssa are recovering from Monday’s transplant

Reese&AlyssaBy Sherry Bunting, Farmshine, November 24, 2017, Photo courtesy Bre Bogert Photography

BALTIMORE, Md. — At this season of Thanksgiving and gift-giving, it is a precious gift for Reese Burdette that has her and her family, friends — and all who have followed her journey back from the fire — especially thankful for the selfless generosity of another.

After nearly two years at Johns Hopkins from the May 2014 fire, Reese returned home to the family’s Windy Knoll View dairy farm, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, in March of 2016. Since then, she has accomplished goals she set for herself, such as getting back to school with her friends and showing her cattle at the All-American. She had returned to an active life this year, improving every day.

But just before the All-American in September, her journey hit a rough spot. She was admitted to Johns Hopkins, where she and her family learned that Reese was in the final stages of renal failure and would need a kidney transplant.

The news was a shock. It seemed impossible. She was doing so well.

Reese returned home. Put her game face on. Showed her cattle at the All-American in Harrisburg. And everyone prayed for a miracle. Finding a match for Reese would be difficult, the doctors had said.

Enter Alyssa Hussey, 32, of Winchester, Virginia, a special education teacher with the Loudoun County Public Schools.

She is a friend of a cousin by marriage to sisters Claire Burdette, Reese’s mother, and Laura Jackson of Waverly Farm Jerseys. She had been among the friends and family tested to find a match. Alyssa had met Reese a few times before the fire and had followed her recovery after.

“Being around her and seeing that she’s such a sweet little girl just made me want to try and help,” a humble Alyssa told the Chambersburg Public Opinion in a story published over the weekend before the transplant surgery on Monday, November 20.

The seven-hour surgery to remove one of Alyssa’s kidneys and do the transplant Reese desperately needed began at 7 a.m. at Johns Hopkins after a celebratory time between family and friends and medical staff, Sunday evening.

“What a blessed day it has been,” wrote Laura Jackson, Reese’s aunt, in an update Monday afternoon. “It has been a long day, but a good day. Donor Alyssa is now recovering in her room. Bless her for all she has been through. From what we are told, Alyssa’s kidney is large and healthy.

“Reese is in recovery. Her surgeon was very pleased with how the surgery went. As always, Reese rocked her surgery and handled it very well. Now we wait to see if the new kidney kicks in. Pray that this new healthy kidney takes over and learns to love its new home,” Laura said further.

Reese will spend the next 100 days recovering at home and will attend her school class via the video robot she used when she first came home in March of 2016.

For her part, Alyssa told the Public Opinion: “I grew up (and) I didn’t have any issues or problems when I was a kid, so I knew what it was like to do all those normal kid things.

“I can only imagine how it would feel to have those taken away, still being so young and not being able to experience some of those things that (Reese is) not able to do right now. So, it’s a great feeling to know that she’s going to get those things back,” Alyssa said.

As she has from the beginning, Laura posted on Facebook about this rough spot in Reese’s journey. She observed that Reese “just wants to be a normal kid.”

But as all know who love and are inspired by her, Reese is an extraordinary 10-year-old. She is wise beyond her years — a ‘tuff girl’ with a big heart and a strong spirit and a determination and sense of humor that gives strength, focus and hope to those around her.

And they give back to her, and the circle continues. So many from across the country and around the world have reached out since May of 2014 to encircle Reese and the Burdette family with prayers, cards, gifts, and financial assistance.

This season, it is the kind and considered offering by someone willing to give a part of themselves — and all that goes with it — that is the gift invoking pure thanks-giving.

“We had a tremendous evening celebrating Reese, Alyssa and many doctors and staff,” wrote Laura in an update Sunday evening before Monday’s surgery. “Tonight, we celebrated life and all that Alyssa is offering to Reese. Pray big tomorrow. Bless these two and all involved.”

As they recover from Monday’s surgery, Reese is prepared to take a step back and build herself back up. She told the Winchester Star in a story published ahead of the surgery that she is looking forward to doing inside things during her recovery, that she loves cooking and baking for her family… but the cows that have inspired her fight to always get back are still inspiring her. This time, the calf a-callin’ is Cream Cheese (so named because she is mostly white).

We at Farmshine offer our heartfelt prayers and thoughts for Reese and her giver Alyssa as they recover. (Laura reports the recovery is going well!)

Correspondence can be sent to Reese Burdette, 8656 Corner Road, Mercersburg, PA 17236. Financial contributions to Reese and her family, can be sent to First Community Bank, 12 S. Main St., Mercersburg, PA 17236. Checks should be made out to “We Love Reese.”

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CAPTION and CREDIT for photo

Photographer Bre Bogert captured this image of giver and receiver ahead of transplant surgery. Alyssa Hussey, 32, is the donor match for the kidney Reese Burdette, 10, needs. Both are recovering at Johns Hopkins where the 7-hour surgeries took place on Monday, November 20. Photo courtesy Bre Bogert Photography

 

A thankful heart

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 ChristmasBarn05Sept6691

Looking over the past year, and especially the past few months, the needs seem so great in the wake of weather events that have surpassed expectations. An early autumn blizzard in the Plains, a typhoon of immeasurable proportions in the Philippines, scores of tornadoes unleashed unseasonably in the Midwest — each event bringing its own form of devastation to a location, a people, a community.

And yet, folks in the midst of ruin are thankful. Reading the accounts or speaking with those affected personally, one common thread emerges… People who have survived a devastating event often have a more thankful heart than those of us going about our daily lives without having to face such immediate danger and loss.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving in a few days, we talk about what we are thankful for. We look around at family, friends, home, hearth, sustenance, and the Lord’s blessings in our lives.

But do we have a thankful heart? Are we full of gratitude? While giving thanks is an action we are reminded to engage in, a thankful heart, on the other hand, is a state of mind.

One example for me is the rancher in South Dakota who — when selected to receive heifers from the Heifers for South Dakota project — instead said no, let me give four of my best to someone who needs that spark of hope. In that case, the rancher had lost nearly half his herd in Storm Atlas October 4-5, but he said he would pull through. With a thankful heart, he gave four heifers to the project so that someone else in a similar situation could benefit.

After the tornadoes last weekend, farmers in some areas of the Midwest lost buildings, communities lost schools and homes. Within hours, neighboring communities and farm groups had mobilized cleanup efforts to help with the first step and most difficult step in rebuilding — grasping the devastation and sifting, sorting, cleaning up to regroup and move forward.

An ocean away in the Philippines, an even darker picture emerges, with a staggering death toll and untold survivors without food, water, shelter. As organized aid finally is able to flow to that region, stories of thankfulness follow.

We live in a world today with all the bells and whistles. We have so many distractions from the things that are most important. Each of us can be one moment away from a change or loss unexpected, which is all the more reason to not just give thanks for what we have but to embrace an attitude of thanksgiving, to have a thankful heart. 

The first Thanksgiving in 1621 was such an occasion. The celebration was of the first successful harvest, preceded by a winter of loss, disease, hunger, and fear and a spring and summer of drought but trusted still to be blessed with a harvest.

I am reminded of the Rose Kennedy quote: “Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn’t people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?”

A thankful heart then paves the way for optimism, faith, hope. A thankful heart allows us to see the new sunshine and sing instead of remaining quietly in the dark of the storm.

Happy Thanksgiving.birds-barn