I Want To Be Thankful

Our Thanksgiving holiday was a great one. We headed to Ohio Thursday morning, the six of us, my mom, and the two dogs. Mark & Jessica hosted a wonderful meal of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, buffet potatoes, cole slaw, corn pudding, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, and rolls. We finished it off with pumpkin roll, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. James, Ann, and their children from Iowa, along with Grandma who is 89 years young, were able to join us this year. As we are still mourning the loss of Jerri, there's plenty we can be thankful for. Paul tells us in Philippians 4:4 that we should "rejoice always." Family is one of the first things that comes to mind. I hear of so many that have big productions of family drama over the holidays. While we all have some family sqabbles, ours was limited to the drama queen herself (Rebekah) who forgot class was cancelled for the holiday. Her good humor keeps us all laughing. We were also able to visit with my Dad and Patty, my cousin Angi and her family, Papa and Maggie, and Brittney and Scott from Michigan (no, there's no blue and gold at their house). We are also thankful for friends. If we mentioned each of you by name, we'd break the computer. We are thankful for our posessions. Even though all of us are facing tough economic times, we're still part of the richest 5% of the people in the world. (If you're reading this, you probably are too). We're also thankful gas was inexpensive for our trip! We are thankful for the members of our church where the truth from the Word of God is boldly taught and preached each and every week. We're thankful for the Christian Educational Consortium where our girls are being taught by intelligent and wise teachers. We are thankful for a Godly scout pack and dance studio. We're thankful for a great neighborhood where we classify the ones who live on our street as "friends" more so than "neighbors." Most importantly we are thankful for God's grace. That He sent His Son, Jesus to take the punishment for our sin. We can't imagine life without Him. All thankfulness belongs to Him.