Merry Thanksgiving

This is not the season of Thanksgiving. This holiday is not commercialized for it’s thankfulness. It is not the holiday of giving thanks that we celebrate in November. It is not the one that calls for journalists to write “How to Instill Appreciation in Your Children,” or “Ten Ways to Say Thank You,” or “This Year I am Thankful For…” 

 But it should be.

This is the season that is founded upon this:

 If nothing else the good news of JOY is enough to celebrate and be thankful for. So…really…this is such a season of thankfulness!

God has blessed me with so much this year that it’s hard to comprehend.

This past weekend we celebrated Christmas with my mom’s side of the family.
These people are loud and crazy and so loving!

We tried to do some family photos…it did not go so well. Between malfunctioning flashes, grumpy folks, (::ahem:: people with gas [no names shall be mentioned]), bright sunshine, and general silly-ness…this is how it all turned out…

Grandparents and kids…

Me: “Mom open your eyes! Stop squinting!”

Mom: ::laughs:: “I am!”

…right, sure you are.

And my uncle? …does he not just look like a creeper back there?

G-parents and grand kids…can you tell me why we couldn’t get situated in one, good position?

…I look like such an awkwardly placed dork…and my sister is on a row all by herself…?

Wind…

…distracted…

I gave up…decided we should just make it real awkward.

Sun flare…normally I like it…this is not the way to do a sun flare…

Mom and kids…

…I don’t have anything to say about that. This is the best one we got.

We fought about whether we were going to stand in the sun or the shade. It was just madness.

But can I just tell you how much I love these people? Life comes and goes so quickly…the moments of joy, pain, tears, and laughter…they slip by before you even realize it. But this family…they’ll always be here. They will always love no matter what. Through the good and the bad and the happy and the sad…they love. 

How lucky am I?

Also…these little people have been rocking my socks off lately!

Now that I feel as if they have finally settled in with me being in their lives things have changed. They have accepted me as part of their daily routine and…it is so great.

I get to play, joke, laugh, sing, and dance with these crazy lil’ ones.

See that lil one down there? Well…she learned Away in a Manger for her school performance and, despite what her brother may say, it never gets old.

And this dude? Well…he’s six and knows everything…but we forgive him for that. I think he might be some type of artist one day. I have never seen a six year old spend so much time focused on drawing or creating. It is simply lovely. And now…the Christmas art!!? Yippee…who doesn’t love that?

It’s unexpected all this joy and happiness I have felt the past few weeks. November (and October) proved itself to be a much more difficult time in my life than I had previously anticipated. Big life decisions, hard challenges, facing the tough stuff no one really wants to face. It was hard. It was uneasy. It was awkward and challenging. It was core-strikingly painful. 

But…those moments that feel like the end is so near you just might drown…they pass, they sun breaks through, the rain stops, and you breath. Maybe you don’t get answers, maybe it doesn’t all work out as planned…but you move forward. Those are the life-determining moments. 

This song has been on repeat in my head for the past two weeks and I am very much okay with it.

I hope your days are filled with much love and happiness as we encroach upon this wonderful, magical, holiday of good news! 

And also…endless joy…