Sometimes when we least expect it, unexpected blessings drop in our lap. I’ve got a Thanksgiving story that explains. Years ago around Thanksgiving, my dad decided to hunt for a wild turkey on our family’s 160 acres in southeast Nebraska.

Now these birds were wily and well fed, free ranging among cornfields and prairie grasses. So Dad tracked some toms and steadied his shotgun. When several turkeys took flight, Dad raised his gun and with one shot hit two of the wild turkeys at once. One shot with double the reward. In honor of Dad, I have since changed the adage “killing two birds with one stone” to “killing two birds with one shot.”

Take Aim

Sometimes life is like a box of chocolate (thanks Forrest Gump) or a box of shotgun shells. You take aim at a target, a goal, an aspiration and sometimes unexpected blessings surprise you in return. Would you believe that 2020 with its unwanted companion, COVID-19, surprised us all with unexpected blessings? Yep. Not just the coronavirus cursings but better-for-it-all benefits.

Let’s look at a few of these unplanned blessings that dropped in our lap or on our laptop or while we were making another lap searching for toilet paper. Through lockdowns and languid moments this year many of us discovered:

• First responders and medical teams truly are everyday heroes
• We really do enjoy in-person conversations and laughter (even if we are introverts)
• Eating together as a family can be entertaining and mood-lifting

• Working in an office cubicle does have is advantages (you’ve got wall space for hanging goofy photos, unused concert tickets, and much more
• You can work in your pjs and still be productive
• Zoom became an everyday household convenience
• We’ve stretched our unprecedented vocabulary with words including contactless payment, curbside service, and Blursday
• Coughing even slightly in public draws an instant stink eye
• Creative artistry abounds in the endless variety of facemasks
• Not wearing lipstick and makeup under facemasks saves time and money
• Our neighbors do have names and they’re hanging outside more too
• Our credit cards may not need as much lathering of hand sanitizer
• Kids are actually learning to wash their hands with real soap and water
• Our homes have more storage space than we thought
• Sharing extra toilet paper with others wins you friends for life

Raise a Toast

My list can go on and on. How about yours?

This Thanksgiving holiday as we eat turkey, Turducken, tofu turkey, or take-out chicken wings, let’s raise a toast to all the unplanned blessings of 2020. And keep aiming high or for the stars, you never know when you’ll kill two turkeys with one shot.