Happy Thanksgiving!

There are so many things to be thankful for.  In our church Thanksgiving service my daughter raised her hand and said, “I’m thankful for everything, except the bad stuff!”  That pretty much summed things up.  I have enjoyed reading about and hearing so many things people are thankful for.  I too am thankful for my husband and children and so many things.

Like my daughter Joy, I am thankful for everything, but there are a few things that have been specifically on my mind that I am especially thankful for.  First of all, I’m thankful for Bobby who is two years old today!  Happy birthday to my cute, little, happy, screamy boy.  It’s so cliche to say that time flies…but time has gone so incredibly fast.  It seems like it can’t possibly be two years since he was born.  We will be celebrating his birth on another day as we will be spending the day celebrating Thanksgiving with family, but I am so, so thankful for my little boy.

My parents–there is nothing like being a parent to make you thankful for your parents is there?  Ha ha!  I am specifically thankful that my parents raised me to know and love God, not only by their instruction, but by their example.  I feel so blessed.   I’ve realized more and more that none of the good in my life is of my own making.  (Duh right?)  When I have made good decisions and choices, it wasn’t just by chance or because I’m smart.  It’s because I was trained from a young age to think Biblically. (Not that I always do mind you.)  But it is a gift from the Lord passed down through the love and hard work of godly parents, and I’m just so thankful for their investment in my life.  I pray that I will be as fervent in my parenting for the Lord.

The third thing that has come to mind often lately is that I’m thankful I can smile!  If you’ve never lost your smile then it’s probably not something you think about.  But after having Bell’s Palsy and losing my smile for weeks, I am just so thankful that I can smile.  When my teeth all began going crooked, and I realized that I might have crooked teeth for the rest of my life, I told myself to be thankful that I can smile.  Now I am incredibly thankful for braces that have already straightened my teeth a lot, but when I feel self conscious about having braces I remind myself, “Be thankful you can smile!”

And so for all these things I am thankful to the Giver of all good gifts.  I’m looking forward to eating pie and spending time with family today.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!