In All Things Give Thanks

The Mulligans crowd into their small car for school, squeezed among lunches, musical instruments, and Jessica’s escaping cockroach collection. Money is tight enough that a larger vehicle is out of reach. Hector, newly arrived from Colombia, is amazed by the amount of food the family eats and learns that regular meals are one of the comforts of his new home. Meanwhile, Mike searches the neighborhood for Chester, an escaped baby kangaroo from the family’s growing collection of animals.

The search leads Mike onto Mr. Sneed’s property. His neighbor is furious about wandering animals, noisy children, and the smell drifting from the Mulligan land. Sneed has filed a county petition against them and threatens to shoot any animal that crosses his property again. Mike apologizes and tries to discuss practical solutions, but Sneed orders him away.

At school, Lisa tells orchestra director Mr. Benteen that she hopes to become a professional musician or conductor. She has signed up to audition for the halftime marching band and believes she can memorize the number of steps and turns by connecting them with the music. Benteen doubts that a blind student can march safely and urges her to accept her limitations. Lisa insists upon receiving the same chance as everyone else, and he reluctantly allows her to audition.

Hector faces a different challenge in the cafeteria. A larger sixth grader named Stuart mocks his height, calls him insulting names, and refuses to believe that the small boy belongs at the sixth-grade table. Stuart grabs Hector’s sandwich, crushes it, throws it like a toy, and orders him to fetch it. Hector remains polite and avoids fighting, but the cruelty leaves him hurt and hungry.

At home, the family discusses unfairness. Lisa is angry that Benteen has pushed her harder because she is blind. Hector has been ridiculed for his height, Jessica and Janelle have a sick mother, the family has money troubles, and Mr. Sneed wants their animals removed. Mike explains that God has never promised an easy or fair life. He has promised to work through every circumstance for the good of those who love Him. Giving thanks in all things does not mean calling pain good; it means trusting God in the middle of it.

Lisa does not earn a place in the marching band. Nick checks the posted list several times, but her name is absent. She quietly accepts the disappointment. Hector, however, reaches his limit when Stuart harasses him again and grabs him. Remembering Nick’s advice to assert himself, Hector knocks the bully down. A teacher catches the two together, and Hector is suspended on his second day of school.

Traci challenges Hector about the fight. He angrily asks whether he is supposed to thank God for being short, for his mother’s death, or for friends starving on the streets of Bogotá. Traci realizes how much grief lies beneath his anger. She carefully repeats that they do not thank God for terrible events. They thank Him while suffering because He remains in control and can bring good even from circumstances they would never choose. Hector understands the words but admits that living them is much harder than saying them.

On the way home, Traci and Hector discover Mike and Mr. Sneed beside a storm drain. Sneed has found Chester unconscious eight or ten feet inside the narrow pipe. None of the adults can fit, and Sneed thinks the badly dehydrated kangaroo should be put down. Hector realizes his small size makes him the only person who can reach the animal. Although Traci fears Chester may wake and kick him, she and Mike finally allow the careful rescue.

Hector crawls through the tight pipe, reaches Chester, and slowly drags the surprisingly heavy animal back. Traci rushes the kangaroo home for fluids and treatment. Sneed refuses to accept Mike’s gratitude and repeats that the Mulligans and their animals will soon be forced away, but his call has nevertheless saved Chester’s life.

That evening, the family gathers around a dinner Hector has prepared. Traci announces that Chester will recover; one more hour in the drain would have been fatal. Mike has also received a surprising business offer. A fertilizer maker has heard about Sneed’s complaint and wants to buy the animals’ manure, turning the source of the odor into income that may carry the family through its financial trouble.

Lisa still has not made the band, but she decides to practice harder until Benteen has no reason to exclude her the following year. The work will make her a better musician whatever happens. Hector now sees how God can weave a painful circumstance into something helpful, though Mike reminds everyone that some situations - and some stubborn neighbors - may take longer. Jessica supplies one final test of gratitude when she replaces her escaped cockroach collection with reptiles and releases a fresh wave of commotion around the dinner table.