Happy Thanksgiving 2011

What a great day!  It sure has been busy, being in the kitchen all day to prepare a feast for my family, but I do love it!  I am so thankful I have a family, I have a kitchen and I have food in abundance to prepare for the ones God has blessed me with.  I'm so thankful for all that He's given me this year.  I reflect on where I was last year and my heart was still a bit heavy after losing Nathaniel (even though I was newly pregnant with Naomi).  What a good year it has been! 


As we sat to eat I asked the kids some things they're thankful for.  I really want to get them to think outside the box!  We've been writing in thankful journals every day when we do our Bible time.  I didn't want their standard answers, so I asked them to think about this past year and what we can be thankful for, what God has done in their lives.  They still couldn't really come up with much of an answer so I told them how I am thankful that Zach is here with us, explaining that many boys and girls have daddy's who aren't home with them but in Iraq or Afghanistan.  I then got really teary thinking how thankful I am that my family is all together.  It was so precious because then Gabe got teary eyed also.  He tried to blame his tears on something else, but I could tell he was really touched.  It still makes me tear up to think about that!  I also explained how I'm thankful we have Naomi.  I also said how thankful I am for the many friends who've blessed and helped us during the time that Zach was in Iraq.  I am truly blessed!


I know not all of my friends or family are having the same kind of day.  Maybe your year is a difficult one, as mine was last year.  Loss, changes, hurts may bombard your thoughts this day and you may struggle with having a thankful spirit.  Hold on to Jesus.  If nothing else you can be thankful for His giving spirit, His work on the cross.  And that is the ultimate blessing, the greatest gift we can grab hold of.  So truly, we have lots to be thankful for in that one act of His, no matter what circumstances may surround us at this time.

Something I totally forgot to post last month....

Here are some random thoughts I've had on our trip so far.  We left Sunday night, drove just south of the Twin Cities and stayed the night and finished our trip to the Northern Shore of Minnesota yesterday.


- You know you're close to Canada when you use an ATM and it asks you what language you'd like to proceed in and the first language listed is French.


- You know you're in a small town cafe' when everyone seems to know everyone else in there!


- Small town cafe' has awesome prices and I thought the food was good.  However, once we got back to the cabin I had a full-blown headache (I had one before but thought it may have been due to hunger) and my stomach hurt horribly.  It still hurts a bit today, I've eaten but only a little here and there, and the baby seems to be ailing a bit too as she's been cranky and pooping a lot.


- Why does it seem like someone has to get sick every vacation?


- I grew up playing on the beaches of Lake Superior and yet didn't seem to enjoy it then like I do now, as an adult.  I do enjoy the beauty around me when I go 'home' and this trip is no different.  It is fun to explore somewhere new on the shores of such a grand lake.  I really realize how blessed I was to grow up where I did.  Boy, did I take it for advantage!


- What is it about this place that makes it seem so much more relaxing than being at home?