We first met Lydia in Tent 53728 when she wrote to her friend Martha, thanking her for sharing a recipe for a dish that saved her marriage. Today she is preparing for a Day of Thanksgiving that Moses has called the Israelites to observe. Please note: Lydia is entirely fictional, as is Moses’ proclamation for a Day of Thanksgiving, but they are based on the experiences of the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, which are recorded in the books of Exodus through Numbers in the Bible. You’ll find today’s Scripture in Numbers 11.

Moses has proclaimed a Day of Thanksgiving, but I’m not thankful. I’m preparing the quail for our dinner, but I have nothing to make this meal any different than every other dinner I’ve made the past month. No onions or leeks, no garlic for seasoning, no cucumbers or melons like we had in Egypt. The children’s favorite foods. That would make them happy, and I’d certainly be thankful if I could see them smile again!

But they don’t smile. They don’t laugh, or sing, or play. And I can hardly get them to eat. I can’t even entice them to eat manna pancakes. No matter how I prepare the manna, it always tastes the same. 

I am fed up! Well, that’s not quite true. I’m starving, and so are my children. Every day they cry and complain against their father and me for  bringing them out here. I tell them that we aren’t to blame—it’s Moses who’s in charge. He’s the one who brought us out here. We thought he was our deliverer, but it appears we are all going to die if things don’t change!

We had a comfortable home in Egypt, and we stayed in one place. But here, we never know where we’re going or how long we’re going to stay. The sun bakes us as we travel. I can’t believe our shoes haven’t worn out, and what would we do if that were to happen?

These were my thoughts as I prepared the quail, as I stood by the fire and roasted them to perfection.

“Perfection.” That’s what I’m waiting for, isn’t it? We didn’t know Moses personally back in Egypt, but we heard Aaron telling how God had called Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. We heard about how he challenged Pharaoh, and about the plagues that he brought upon Egypt. But Aaron said it wasn’t Moses who brought the plagues, it was God. He promised to take us to a land God would show us, a land flowing with milk and honey. We didn’t know it would be so hard to get there. We thought we’d be there in a month. It’s already been a year and we seem to be wandering in circles.We are so weary.

Is it really God, not Moses, who’s in charge? Does he even have a plan? When will we get to this promised land? This is not what we expected. But God helped us escape Pharaoh’s army, and he actually made a way for us to walk through the Red Sea! Every morning we wake to manna, so we aren’t going to starve, I guess. And God used Moses’ rod to bring us water from a rock when we were parched.

Every time there was no way we could meet the challenge, God used Moses to show us what to do. Perhaps we are not doomed out here. Maybe there is yet hope.

I think I’ll make those manna muffins that Martha told me about. A nice accompaniment to the quail. It will be a tasty Thanksgiving dinner!

Lydia, Tent 53728

See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.

Isaiah 43:19