1. The act of giving thanks
2. a prayer expressing gratitude
3. a public acknowledgement or celebration of divine goodness
How do you define being "thankful"? Isn't it so many things? We went around the room at thanksgiving and shared what we were thankful for and my mind just became so cluttered by my mountains of thankfulness that I struggled with what to share. It can be as "simple" as having food on your plate, warm clothes to wear, a heated car. It can be the pain medications that help that pounding headache to cease for a while. It can be a hug from a dear dear friend. It can be a day off of work. It can be an act of kindness. It can be having hope. It can be having time to read that book you've been aching to get your eyes on. It can be having a job. It can be feeling safe. It can be knowing what it means to love and be loved. It can be having a family, especially one that loves you. It can be having a church where you can worship Jesus freely. It can be having joy in the midst of a lot of pain. Maybe it is just a general, over-all, feeling of just being thankful. It can be incredibaly deep sincere and undeserved thankfulness for Jesus, who died for our bad decisions & sins so that we could live with Him in perfection someday for eternity. It could be prayer- that God hears us and loves us and helps us through the mire. It could be a song that breaths life into our hearts and inspires us to no end. This list has the potential to continue on forever. It's hard to only list a few. But I am so blessed, and I know that all good gifts come from God. I am so so thankful for these things, but most of all I'm so so thankful for Jesus. Because without Him, none of these things would matter.
We shared two wonderful thanksgivings this year. First we had thanksgiving with Seth's family. His Dad read a poem at dinner about how God longs for our hearts and loves us to no end. We had amazing food and always have a blast together. I forgot to take any pictures this night, but you can envision with twin almost-two-year-olds, the scene is never dull! :)
The next day we went to my family for Thanksgiving. Again, amazing food, actually shall I say a feast for lack of better words. Before we ate, we all went around the room to say what we were thankful for. In addition to many other things, we all said how thankful we were for eachother. We've braved some stormy seas together & through it all, God has brought us closer and deeper.We are very blessed. Mom is used to cooking for an army of boys and as a consequence, we always walk away very very satisfied! I had the duty of making the apple pie this year, I love apple pies. We had a great time and it was good to be together as a family (though we missed our Texans).
My attempt at making home-made crust!
The incredible and amazing-tasting feast :)
Finished product :)
Family pictures for the Christmas card!
All in all we had a marvelous time being with our families and dwelling on the fact that God is so good. His love for us is so so deep. It isn't bound by our human boundries of love. It surpases every wrong thing we do and aches to have us in His safe pastures (Heaven). He created us because He wanted to. And then, after we tried living life our own way and making a lot of bad decisions, He sent His perfect Son, Jesus, who already resided in the most magnificent place imaginable- Heaven, to die for us. To save us from eternal seperation (hell) from Him. Praise be to God who does all things well!! We are all so blessed because we can all have Jesus and that's all we need!
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