A Thanksgiving Story
A Thanksgiving Story is a simple thought and inspirational story about Thanksgiving in which one learns to help each other because one needs something.
Dr. Garland Bare, who grew up in Tibet, the son of missionaries, and who spent two decades as a medical missionary in Thailand, now with his wife Dorothy and the daughter Grace is our backdoor neighbor here in Spring River Christian Village in Joplin. Dr. Bare is the Bible teacher on Sunday morning services at the Village. He has a wealth of interesting stories to tell about his family and their adventures in life.
Sunday, he told about his great-grandparents when they migrated to Nebraska years ago. Their first home was a dugout; their second, a sod house; their third a cabin of timber. Pioneer life was hard, but they stuck with it. There were two Indian tribes in their area: the Nemahas in southwestern Nebraska, and the Omahas in the north. In the fall of the year, around our Thanksgiving time, it was the custom of the two tribes to get together for a celebration of their own.
One of the main travel routes for the Indians passed by the Bares’ home. Grandmother Bare had just baked a chokeberry pie when several Indians stopped by. She could tell they seemed hungry, so she cut the pie in six slices and it to them. They seemed grateful and went on their way. It was a year later, and the Bares had gone to the nearest town for supplies. They always left their door open, because (as Mrs. Bare said) “One of the neighbors might need something.”
When they returned from the trip, they found in their cabin a pile of furs and some dried meat. Drawn on the wood planks of the floor in chalk was a circle divided into six sections!
There are so many stories of enmities between white settles and Indians. It is good to learn about those who knew how to be good neighbors and how to express thankfulness.
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