I was reminded last week why Thanksgiving was always my favorite holiday as a child. I also realized that not much has changed.
We spent the week in Georgia, and it was truly delightful. I hadn't been home since last Christmas. It was such a quiet, refreshing, relaxing, peaceful, much needed time. The past couple of months were especially difficult. I even told a friend of mine that I felt like my struggle bus was broken down on the side of the road. Joy . . . well, it seemed like joy was just kinda hard to come by (and this isn't a discussion about joy and happiness and the difference or sameness of the two). Knowing something and feeling it aren't the same. And sometimes you just want to FEEL it. As always, these are the kinds of things that have to be worked out and through with my Savior and me. He is faithful. Always.
One of my favorite bloggers and authors is Ann Voskamp. Her book One Thousand Gifts really changed my perspective on day-to-day living in the midst of uncertainty, disappointment and weariness.
Eucharisteo.
Thanksgiving.
Being joyful isn't what makes us grateful. Being grateful is what makes us joyful. (Ann V.)
When thanks to God becomes your habit, JOY IN GOD becomes your life. (Ann V.)
Even King David, the man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22), asked the LORD to restore to him the JOY of his salvation (Psalm 51:12). Yes, that was after a season of sin and in repentance, but it still speaks to me greatly, nonetheless.
How many times have we pondered God's will for our lives or for a specific situation? There's lots that can be said about that, but I think God's Word says it best in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
So. Here we are. Eucharisteo. Thanksgiving. Matt Redmond says we have 10,000 reasons to bless the Lord. I could make a list of 10,000 reasons. I could. The classical Greeks used letters of the Greek alphabet to represent numbers. They used M to represent 10,000. The name in Greek is myriad. Myriad is an indefinitely large number. So not just 10,000 . . . but countless!
So much to be grateful for!
Thanksgiving . . . it was a quiet time, a family time, a joyful time!
I was talking to Hannah Kate and Ellie the other day about the blessing of having a sister and how I always wanted a sister because I knew she would be a best friend for life. I didn't have any sisters, but I had cousins who were like sisters. We laughed and we cried, but it was so good!
I wish I would've taken the time to get a picture of all 11 of them together, but I didn't. I just got a few of the girls.
My childhood memories of Thanksgiving revolve around the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, my Grandmother's table and the lighting of the tree in downtown Atlanta. My bestie and I had this conversation when we went to NYC. There are certain things traditions in our childhood that we've tried to carry over into our marriage and children. Sometimes that works. Sometimes it doesn't. I really wanted my kids to embrace the parade (even though it, at times, wasn't very embraceable), but this is what I got.
Don't let her fool you. She wants you to think she was watching the parade with her Momma. But she really wasn't. She just didn't want a picture of her on her kindle. She settled for a selfie instead.
And then there was the food. My mama let me pick all the sides this year. And she made every last one of them for me (I did help with a couple of things).
We gathered many, many times, but this was Thanksgiving day.
There was also play time.
Mama still has all of my Barbies and Barbie clothes and all of her Barbies, too! Man, I spent HOURS playing with these things. I always thought my girls would love Barbie as much as I did. That was before we were introduced to American Girl. I don't know that we even have one Barbie in the house. If we do, she probably doesn't have any clothes. But they love playing with my old Barbies at Mimi's house.
Pop said we needed to add a baseball glove to his Christmas list. He had to borrow Seth's.
Hannah Kate is fascinated by the grease rack. I get it. We didn't always have this in my yard, but Granddaddy had one. I was always climbing all over that thing.
I mean, does it get any cuter?
If you look closely, the dot on the top of the hill is a cute little strawberry blonde I know. I used to take this hill for granted. This was my view every day for the first half of my life. It's odd how, sometimes, something so familiar becomes so new.
Seth helped my daddy hang the outside lights. I've always begged for outside lights at our house. We don't have outside lights . . .
Time spent with family and friends was the best part of it all.
Grateful.
Joyful.