A few weeks ago, I posted something on facebook about being excited for Thanksgiving. I am excited to get away and spend time with family. Someone who read my status commented something along the lines of "shouldn't we be thankful everyday?" Of course. We should be thankful everyday. It's the same thing people say about Valentine's Day. Shouldn't we show our loved ones how much we love them everyday. Of course. However, setting aside a special day every year to really reflect on what we're thankful for or to give our significant other a special day is not a bad thing. I think it's wonderful. Let's face it, sometimes we're not as thankful as we should be. Sometimes the Thanksgiving holiday serves as a reminder that we need to be more thankful. It's not that we're only thankful on Thanksgiving, it's that we're extra thankful on Thanksgiving. How can you argue with that?
In three hours we're leaving to spend Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania with Kraig's family. We'll all get to be there, which is always great. We've lost several family members in the past year, so I know we'll be extra thankful for the ones we still have. For us, it'll be the two year anniversary of when we told Kraig's family that we were pregnant with Kate. Today is actually two years to the day that I took a pregnancy test and got a positive result. I'm very thankful for that. Kate is pretty awesome. We'll also be thankful that we all get to be together for the holiday. Time together is a precious commodity when everyone lives so far away. We really are thankful for the time together.
My family will be celebrating at my parents' house without us. It will be the second Thanksgiving without my Papa, and his void will still be noticed. They'll all be extra thankful that Mama is still with us. My sister and brother-in-law just bought their first house and I know they're thankful that they are able to have the things that they have.
All in all, it's been a good year. We celebrated Kate's first birthday during which time she got to spend time with two of her great-grandparents that passed away a very short time later. We are thankful that we were able to spend some extra time with them before they were gone. This year our parents, us, and two of our sisters celebrated wedding anniversaries. In the world we live in, we're thankful for loving spouses who have committed to staying with us through thick and thin. I had a cancer scare this year, but I'm healthy now and I am very thankful for that. Kraig and I are thankful for our new ministry in Virginia. We are thankful that the Lord's timing provided us with this opportunity. We're thankful that the Lord has provided plenty for us to be able to afford to live and enjoy life. We're thankful that because he's provided so well for us that we can give to others. How could we not be thankful for everything the Lord has done for us?
I know everyone hasn't had a great year. If I looked back over our year, I could dwell on losing multiple grandparents, at financial difficulties, at horrible times in our previous ministry, at having surgery to remove cancer from my body. There are plenty of bad things that could be remembered, but I'm choosing to dwell on the positives. If you're struggling to find things you're thankful for, look at the bad things that have happened this year. It's often through the rough times that we learn what we truly are thankful for. We lost grandparents, but it makes us treasure the times we had with them and cherish the moments we have with our existing family. We have had our share of financial troubles, but the Lord always provides. We had a bad, bad ministry experience, but God has brought us to a new place where we really feel like we belong. I had cancer, but we found it before it spread and surgery was all the treatment I needed. There is so much to thank God for! I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!!
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