Thankful




Our Thanksgiving gathering was really pleasant this year. My brother, his wife, and their 23 month old daughter drove down from Mississippi, and my parents, our children, and our friends the Briggs family all poured into our home and filled it with fun. The children had a great time playing inside and out, and the adults pretty much relaxed and enjoyed them and each other.

Mom made her fabulous dressing and brought a cheesecake (from the Cheesecake Factory—YUM!), Kathryn brought a wonderful salad, and I prepared the vegetables and side dishes. I decided to try a new recipe for the sweet potatoes, Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Pecan and Marshmallow Streusel. I’m going to make them every year— delicious! (Our Turkey was a smoked one from Publix—all I had to do was heat it for a few hours—it was great too.)

There’s much to be thankful for this year in our lives. I’ve been thinking about this for several days now, and I have found myself giving thanks for things great and small. I thought I’d see if I could list some of them in this post:

My husband- faithful, loving, courageous
My children- I am blessed to be their mother
My parents- truly wonderful
My brother and his family- a joy to be around
The love of my Heavenly Father
Friends- they bring laughter and lightness into my life
Work- such wonderful people!
My Students- I love having young people in my life
Health- so far so good… I’m grateful
Our home
The journey of life—I’m thankful for God’s mercy and care
Things I’ve learned not to take for granted:
The beauty of the earth and sky--
Night
Day
Morning
Evening
The ocean
Trees
The wind
Birdsong
Music
Prayer
Books
Our bed
The time we have with our children
Learning

Such a list only scratches the surface of a wealth of blessings in my life. I pray the Lord will help me keep this season’s perspective throughout the year. It really is good to give thanks, isn’t it?