Frank forced the door shut. “It’s a blizzard out there Lettie. I don’t think the car or the truck will be able to make it to your Ma’s tomorrow, even if they did plow that old road.”

Lettie handed Frank a towel. “You better come sit by the fire to dry off or you’ll catch cold,” she said. “Do you think there’s a chance it might clear up by tomorrow?”

Frank shook his head.

“Well. We’ll make the best of it. It’s disappointing, but we will be just as thankful for our blessings at home as we would be at Ma’s.” Lettie continued, “After all she’s the one who taught us that we need to ‘live in Thanksgiving daily,’ no matter what happens. We won’t let her nor the Lord down.”

Frank marveled at this wonderful woman, who was always counting her blessings, even when others couldn’t see them. With a smile he said, “There is one way we could get there.”

“How? On snow shoes?” she laughed.

“We can take the sleigh!”

“Well, that would be something,” Lettie mused. “It’s been years since we had the old sleigh out.

The runners are probably rusted right through.”

Frank smiled, “It has been quite a few years,” he agreed, “but as usual the Lord’s looking out for us!”

“What do you mean?”

“Just last week Sharon came to me in tears, ’cause she couldn’t find her new kitten. Low and behold we found her in the barn hiding under the sleigh,” Frank explained. “When I took the tarp off to get to her, Sharon was real curious about the sleigh. I kinda felt bad that the younger kids never got to ride in it, so I cleaned her up.”

“That’s what you’ve been doing out in the barn all those nights?” Lettie queried.

“Even put a new coat of paint on her and those runners have been sanded and oiled and sharpened.

They look almost good as new, if I do say so myself.”

“Well, this will be a Thanksgiving to remember!” Lettie exclaimed. “We’ll have to get the old buffalo throws and all the wool blankets down from the attic. I guess the children will get their new hats, scarves, and mittens for Thanksgiving, instead of Christmas!”

Frank turned and hollered as he headed for the attic, “Call your Pa, too, and let him know we’ll need a couple of stalls and some fresh hay for the horses.”

Lettie and Frank worked until midnight getting everything ready for the trip the next morning.

Together they climbed the stairs to their bedroom. There they knelt down together as they did every morning and every night and expressed their gratitude to their Heavenly Father.

They woke before light the next morning. Frank got the children up and ready. “It’s going to be cold, so you all need to wear your thermals and wool socks. Your winter boots and outerwear are ready for ya down stairs.” Frank told the children. “Ma’s almost got breakfast ready. So ya need to hurry!”

After family prayers they all went into the kitchen to eat a hot breakfast of oatmeal, toast, and hot chocolate. After eating everyone worked together to wash the dishes and clean the kitchen so they could be on their way.

“You better put these on!” Lettie told the children as she handed out the new winter wear.

“Oh, Ma! These are beautiful,” exclaimed 14-year-old old Karen. “I sure hope I’ll be able to knit as good as you some day.”

Sixteen-year-old Jason looked out the window. “Hey Pa! It’s snowing pretty hard out there. Do you really think we should be driving in this weather?”

“We’ll be just fine, Jason. The Lord has provided!”

“What do you mean?” questioned 4-year-old Sharon.

“We’re taking ourselves on a sleigh ride!”

Shouts of joy and laughter filled the air as the family loaded into the sleigh with gratitude for a Thanksgiving sleigh ride to Grandmother’s house.

by Margie Nauta Lee