Happy, Happy Thanksgiving!

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." I Thessalonians 5:18.

What am I thankful for?

1. First of all, I must say that I'm thankful for a God who loves me and a Son who saved me and my whole family.
2. I'm thankful that I live in a country that was founded on the love of this same God and forefathers who knew we would fall apart without Him.
3. I'm thankful for a husband who works hard and gives us everything. I don't even think he knows when he gets paid - he just takes what I give him and doesn't complain.
4. As much as I wish I didn't work, I'm thankful to have a job. I'm thankful I'm healthy and can work. I'm thankful my job allows me to work at home so at least I'm at home with the kids though not always completely plugged in.
5. I'm thankful for a mom who is my best friend and a dad who will, and does, drop everything when I need him to.
6. I'm thankful for in-laws who raised a very hard working, kind hearted, and sweet man who takes good care of us.
7. I'm thankful for a 15-year-old boy who has finally learned to ask for safety glasses before doing something stupid. Hopefully this means he is recognizing "stupid" a little earlier than he has in the past.
8. I'm thankful for doctor's who have the God given ability of healing. From breast cancer, to asthma, to growth hormone deficiency - we are thankful for it all.
9. I'm thankful that Anthony has found Civil War Reenactments and the wonderful friends he has made through this interest. Isn't it amazing how God knew where to put us in order to find just that right group for him?
10. Who knew I would be thankful for Alex being able to reach the light switch? Two years after everyone else her age did. And the joy that would bring her? Not until we saw her face light up that first time she was able to reach it on her own did we realize what an unreachable goal that had seemed to her. Then we spent weeks in alternating light and darkness 'cause we didn't have the heart to tell her to stop. I'm thankful now,that at 13, she is one of the taller girls in her class and it's hard to find jeans long enough for her.
11. I'm thankful for great friends, some I've had since birth, some since high school, and some that I've made over the years because our kids are friends. I'm thankful for them all.
12. I'm thankful for the memories I have of my grandparents. I can't make Jell-o without thinking of Mammy 'cause that's what I always made at her house. She let me drink it out of a Pyrex glass measuring cup before even putting it in the refrigerator. And the smell of Jergens lotion and Rocky Road ice cream take me directly to my other grandmother's house.
13. Though much more difficult, I'm also thankful for the heartaches and hardships we have endured. It's in these times we see the grace and mercy of a Father who loves us. It's in these times He shows us how to depend on Him to meet our needs and heal our hurts.

Thankful doesn't even begin to cover it...