No presents. Pretty colors. Family. And the best food of the year.
Sigh.This is what our Thanksgiving buffet looked like. There were 42 of us: aunts, uncles, cousins, second-cousins. A friend looked at my daughter as she was describing the day and exclaimed, "You KNOW your SECOND cousins?!?!" Yes, with great gratitude I can say, not only do my kids know their second cousins, they actually like them. A lot.
I am thankful for many things, and I thought it might be good to record exactly what some of those things are:
- I am thankful to have a husband who continues to show up, to forgive me, to ask me for forgiveness, who laughs with me, and likes me, and takes me out for dates, and sees me at my worst and loves me anyway.
- I am thankful for the privilege of being a Mom. A privilege that involves effecting hearts and bearing burdens. And it is also the privilege of being encouraged, challenged, and convicted by the boldness and faith of my own children who often surpass me in their passion for the Lord.
- I am thankful for enough. Enough food. Enough clothing. Enough water. Enough gas. Enough. Enough. Enough. Of everything I need.
- I am thankful for a country where I can vote and go to church and disagree and stand up for what I believe in.
- I am thankful for the mercy, grace, power, loving-kindness, justice, forgiveness, and protection of my Lord.
That really just scratches the surface.
I have so much to be thankful for. But I often forget to be thankful. To my shame.
So as I look forward to immersing myself in the joy of the Christmas season, I don't want to rush past the gratitude of the Thanksgiving season. Because it is so easy to digress into the "stuff" of Christmas gift giving and it is so easy to lose sight of and dismiss the appreciation of my great blessings.
So this week I am holding off on Christmas. Just for a week. Cause I am just not done being Thankful.
Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart. Ps. 111:1
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