| Isn't it sad that we make it our intent to pause and be thankful for only one day each year. Even on that day, we mostly just focus making turkey and pies, and when our turn comes to tell what we are thankful for, we just say something cliche like "family" or "shelter." Not that we aren't all thankful for those things, we just don't put much thought into actually being thankful. This year, I am extremely thankful. I am continually thankful for the salvation that God has offered me through Jesus' sacrifice, and I do not take that for granted, because it is everything. Above and beyond that, though, there are only two things that immediately come to mind. First, I am thankful to be home this year. It had been two years since I had experienced a Missouri autumn, and I have been relishing in every moment of it - the bonfires, the smell of leaves, the way they swirl behind the car when you drive through a big pile of them.... The changing seasons are truly a miracle. In a few more weeks, everything will be dead, and then by April, it will be blooming with life again. I love it. I love being at home with my family, too. I missed them so much last year. How wonderful it is to wake up and be able to walk down the hallway and give my mom and dad a hug. My sister and I made apple pie yesterday, and soon I will have the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on the television. Yes, being home is something to be thankful for. Second, I am thankful for love. I do not mean that in some over-arching, metaphorical, cosmic-love-of-the-universe kind of way. I am thankful for loving and being loved by the most wonderful man I have ever met. I don't talk about this much, so I hope you'll indulge my mushy-ness this one day. Being in love is everything I ever dreamed it would be, and yet so incredibly different than I thought it would. It is one thing to imagine being in love, with the romantic moments of flowers and candlelight and dancing. But it is something else entirely to find fun going to Wal-Mart, and to look each other and laugh with your eyes at an inside joke, and to live through all the ordinary days that make the romantic ones so special. To everyone who is in love today, please tell the one you love how thankful you are for them. And if you aren't with your parents, call them and tell them you love them. And do both things again soon on a day when they aren't expecting it. Happy Thanksgiving! |
