I'm sitting here on the eve of Thanksgiving, thinking about all the blessings in this life.  Sometimes, blessings are big and obvious and hard to overlook and, other times, they're so quiet and subtle that we may glance right over them if we're not careful.  God's gifts can come in the form of people, places, or things.  They can be spiritual or physical or emotional.  Tangible or unseen.  Eternal or temporarily loaned to us.  Some may happen just once in a lifetime and some are so commonplace that we hardly give them much thought.  Some come as they are and some are dressed in disguises.  Some aren't appreciated until they're gone.  Some aren't given much consideration until we see someone who's struggling without it.         

This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for second chances, porch swings, broken in blue jeans, and hot donuts with milk.  I'm thankful for nights when I can stay up late, Chacos, Peanuts holiday specials, and the way you feel on your birthday.  I'm thankful for potatoes, caramel cake, making up after an argument, and photographs of people who are gone now.  I'm thankful for beautiful sunsets....the ones where God uses a whole bunch of His colors to paint the sky.  I'm thankful for bonfires, dinner with friends, family gatherings, and nights when we have nowhere to go.  I'm thankful for hymns with outdated words like thee and thou, because you can't really improve on those.  I'm thankful for jacket weather and cruise control and children's choirs.  Football games.  Sunday afternoon naps.  Hot chocolate.  I'm thankful for mountains and oceans and waterfalls and wildflowers and the other millions of things that God made beautiful just for us.  I'm thankful for the feeling you get from looking at your work at the end of the day.  I'm thankful for rainy days, flannel sheets, men who offer their seats, and a God who is slow to anger and full of mercy.  I need that.      

I'm thankful for family vacations, barbeque chicken, tulips, and Christmas lights.  I'm thankful when my children are happy, for my church and the sweet faces there, a hardworking husband, and chips and dips.  I'm thankful that my son still kisses me goodnight and for the bond that mothers and sons share.  I'm thankful for the cold winds of winter, pipe organs, puppies, and sweet notes that someone took the time to write.  I'm thankful for being an aunt, thin crust pizza, and the Bible.  I'm thankful for knowing that my children are saved.  I'm thankful that my daughter still wants to share news with me and that we enjoy each other's company.  I'm thankful that God doesn't give up on us.  I'm thankful that I have people in my life who love to laugh with me and for the times I have a thought or idea that I know God put in my head.  I'm thankful that our kitchen is full of food.  For doctors and medicine. My sweet in-laws.  I'm thankful for the first night sleeping in fresh sheets.  Cousins. Stories from history.  A faithful, furry companion who meets me at the door with uncontrollable love every day.  I'm thankful for my brothers and the things I learned from growing up between two sweaty, perpetual eaters.  I'm thankful for the men they grew up to be and their families.        
      
I’m thankful for the first sign of fall, fresh cut grass, the sound of bobwhites, salsa, the smell of charcoal, and golden leaves against azure skies.  I'm thankful for rolling over and going back to sleep on Saturday mornings.  I’m thankful when I dream about my Daddy and can see him for just a minute.  Even if it's just inside my head, I’ll take that, any day, until I can see him again.  I’m thankful for home movies that I can watch and still hear him laugh and see my children little....like they will never be again.  I’m thankful for boiled peanuts, weeping willow trees, and a Savior, who can sympathize with our infirmities and has not left us comfortless.  I'm thankful for all the teachers, who've loved on me through the years......kids never, ever forget that.  I'm thankful for the teachers, who've loved on my kids over the years......Mamas never, ever forget that.  I'm thankful that my weaknesses are my husband's strengths and for rocking chairs, the sound of tree frogs, and for friends who would come, right away, if I needed them.  I'm thankful that, even though He didn't have to, Jesus died for me and for the hope that gives when days are dark.  I’m thankful for the neighborhood I grew up in with kids in every house, Old Maid cards flapping in spokes, Kool-Aid frozen into Tupperware popsicles, and a ballgame always going on in someone's yard.  I’m thankful for church bells, the feeling of giving, and old music that takes me back in time.  I'm thankful for my grandparents and the memories of holidays I spent with them.  I'm thankful for smells that bring back memories.             


“Think of the great things He has done for you.”

Happy Thanksgiving!