Happy Thanksgiving!

I love this picture of David throwing leaves up into the air...and when I see it, I picture myself throwing thanks up into the air to God--with joyful abandon, just like my son.

On this Thanksgiving Day, I find myself grateful for the "usual stuff": family, friends, church, God's love & provision, etc. All of this is extremely important, and I never want to take it for granted. But I do want to express my thankfulness to God in more creative ways...so in the spirit of that, here is another grateful list which captures specific things from this week and this phase of my life for which I thank God.

Last night, Jeff and I watched the movie Fried Green Tomatoes; neither one of us had ever seen it before. The first few things on my list were inspired by watching that; and if you're familiar with the movie, you'll know where I'm coming from...

1. the opportunity to live here and be part of my parents' life as they age and not have to put them in a nursing home and make them rely on outsiders for their care and companionship -- lest I be misunderstood, I definitely believe that there is an appropriate time and place for the care that can only be provided in a nursing home; and only God knows whether that time will come in the lives of my parents (or in my own life, for that matter) -- but I also realize that nursing homes can be very sad, lonely places -- more than anything, I never want my loved ones to feel abandoned to such a place, so I'm grateful for how closely knit together our three-generation family is now and will be in the future

2. my marriage -- I'm so grateful for a husband who doesn't simply walk in the door from work, grab a beer and his dinner, and plop himself in front of the TV to lose himself in the world of sports -- to have a husband who loves me wholeheartedly, who loves his sons, who gives of himself for us in so many ways is such a blessing; and I don't want to ever take that for granted

3. my health -- in the movie, one of the main characters has cancer and has to say goodbye to her young son when she knows she's close to death -- how do you do that? -- I am so completely NOT ready to bid farewell to my sons, even though the promise of heaven is comforting -- but still...wow, I can get emotional just thinking about this one -- I'm so very thankful for each day that I have with my children and my husband -- tonight as I write this, they are enjoying a father/son outing to a movie; and even though I should be used to this by now, I still felt my heart squeeze in pain as they drove away, and I thought to myself, "There goes my heart" -- it's hard enough to let my heart go driving away without me, much less to say goodbye at death's door -- I can't even imagine...

4. the way our society has advanced, especially in the area of racism -- I know full well that racism still exists, and that is a shame -- worse than simply a shame, it is wrong: it is evil -- but, my goodness, it is unfailingly shocking to me to see such a vivid depiction of how blacks were treated in the South -- I think, "How could normal, rational, even God-fearing people have ever treated other people in such a way?" -- I can't even fathom it, yet I know that in many places of the world (including our own country), racism is still alive and well, and we need to continue to fight against it to eradicate it

And now a few things from today that I am particularly grateful for...

5. Jeff's fantastic idea to take the boys and go for a drive in the countryside this morning, taking the camera so he could capture some of our local scenery -- not only did it give me a break on a morning when I was particularly tired and just not feeling well, but it was also an excellent opportunity to capture images from our life -- he came back with about 100 pictures on the camera, and I still need to sort through them, but I plan to post some of them because I just love them! :)

6. a low-key Thanksgiving -- besides my parents, we were planning to have another family over for dinner, as well as an older widow who is close to our family -- unfortunately, our boys caught colds two days ago, and so the family decided not to come so as to avoid transferring germs to the grandmother of the family who is battling cancer (a wise decision) -- anyway, today was such a relaxing day! -- we didn't even have turkey, but opted instead for steaks, which we already had in our freezer -- it was nice to catch up with our friend, Doris, but not have to rush around worrying about whether we had enough food, and then spend hours cleaning up afterwards -- it was exactly the kind of Thanksgiving I needed! :) (all of my extended family was in other states, with other plans this year, so that's why we didn't gather with them)

7. large maternity pants -- OK, this probably won't make it onto my grateful list next Thanksgiving! -- but this year, I am indeed grateful for large maternity pants, since for some strange reason, I seem to be growing out of the pants that were my "old faithful" pants in previous pregnancies! -- a long time ago, way before I was even pregnant, my mother saw some maternity pants for sale in the clearance catalog of Lands' End, and she offered to get some for me if I so desired -- I happily accepted -- well, earlier in this pregnancy, when I tried to wear them, they literally were so big that they fell off -- but now, they sure are coming in handy! -- I started today in one of my old pairs of pants that I wore throughout my previous pregnancies with no problems at all, but after a short while I was so incredibly uncomfortable in them that I was forced to go change into one of these larger pairs, and did I ever feel better afterwards! :)

8. time -- alone time -- thinking time -- no interruptions time -- I was able to spend a significant block of time working on my pregnancy journal this afternoon and evening -- I had gotten really behind in it, and it was a joy to catch up some today -- I still have some work to do to truly be caught up, but I'm much closer now -- it was truly a treat to have that time during the boys' naps and during their movie outing with Daddy to do my own thing :)

9. last, but not at all least, for tonight's list -- I am so appreciative of the friendships in my life, old and new friends, and especially for those of you who read this blog -- thanks for taking the time to know me in this way -- I love the community that I'm a part of through this outlet!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!