Happy Thanksgiving

This is the day of the year that we take time to be thankful. It seems that this holiday gets less attention each year as we prepare for Christmas earlier and earlier. With floods of catalogs coming into our homes and constant list-making of things we don't have but really need (or want!), gratitude is hard to come about.

I love that we have this day to spend with family and focus on those things for which we are most grateful. Because we have so much and live in an environment of plenty, it's difficult to really focus on those specific things. But this year I am overwhelmed with thanksgiving. I have been blessed with so much more than I deserve. So much more.

We created a thankful tree this year and during our thanksgiving celebration with my mom and both of my sisters and their families, we each wrote what we are most thankful for on a leaf. It was made with an old branch, a bunch of rocks and some paper, but it's beautiful. And just looking at it makes me smile...

There are a variety of blessings on the tree...good friends, family, a good job, and even Elmo. This year it wasn't difficult to think about what I'm most thankful for. After some friends have had the scare of their life with their sweet 10-year old daughter, Aidyn, I am reminded of the blessing of my family's good health. And I am so grateful.

I'm thanking God for that and for so much more, while at the same time I'm reminded that I can't hold on too tightly for I know that these are blessings guaranteed only for this very moment.

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." I Chronicles 16:34

Thank you, Lord, for your love poured out for eternity. Remind us daily that our true hope is found in you, from whom all blessings flow. Teach our family to be grateful to you for your goodness. And thank you for the abundance of blessings you have poured out on us. Lord, you are good!

Oh, and just because they are so cute, here are the little turkeys that all the kids created today...
Happy Thanksgiving!