Over the River and Through the Woods

For Wilshire Baptist Church

Sunday morning on the way to church, LeAnn asked if I ever sang the song “Over the River and Through the Woods” as a kid. I said I did, and then we pieced it together from our memories and began to sing it:

Over the river, and through the woods,


To Grandmother’s house we go;


The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh,


Through the white and drifted snow.

Over the river, and through the woods,


Oh, how the wind does blow!


It stings the toes and bites the nose,


As over the ground we go.

I recalled how my mother would lead us in the song on Thanksgiving morning as we drove from Richardson to my grandparents’ house in Sherman. Traveling north on old U.S. 75, a two-lane blacktop at the time, we’d head out across the countryside and pass through the small towns of Melissa, Anna, Van Alstyne and Howe. Except for the snow and the horse and sleigh, the song was perfect for the day. Getting out of town and rolling past farms and pastures, it felt like we were truly traveling “over the river and through the woods.” And indeed, we were going to “Grandmother’s house.”

Thanksgiving for me back then was all about driving across the countryside to see grandparents, feast on turkey and dressing and all the fixings, and play outside in the big back yard with my brother and sister until it was time to go home. Much has changed since then. Grandparents are long gone, as is much of the open countryside between Richardson and Sherman. So too has changed my notion of what Thanksgiving is all about. What once felt more like ‘thanks getting” has matured into “thanks giving” as it was always intended to be.

It doesn’t take a lot of imagination now to work up a list of things for which I’m thankful. Good health, good family, good friends and good jobs are the big blessings that come to mind first. But giving thanks is not just for the big-ticket items. For every major blessing that comes to mind, there are people who provided direction and helped pave the way.

For example, I can be thankful for good health because a dentist took my crazy symptoms seriously and referred me to other specialists who ultimately identified the problem. I can be thankful for a good family – and my life, actually – because two college students volunteered for a project at their church, got distracted by love, and became my parents.

I can be thankful for good friends because clever mothers got their seventh graders together for a sleepover that launched a lifelong relationship. And I can be thankful for good jobs because the sister of the husband of a second cousin knew of a job opening that got me started on the career I still enjoy today.

Each of these big-ticket blessings began with small actions and decisions that lined up like small towns on a country highway. Along the way there’s been snow, wind and horses that, unlike in the song, didn’t always know the way. Sometimes the woods have been dark and dense, the rivers deep and the bridges washed out. But, by the grace of God, I’ve arrived safely to this day.

This Thanksgiving I’m grateful for the big blessings of life, but also for the people who have helped guide me on the journey.