Giving Thanks

We celebrated Thanksgiving last week.  If I'm being honest, there wasn't much thanks in my heart this holiday.  I let myself get overwhelmed with what I don't have, who I'm not with this holiday and bogged down by yet another sinus infection (the great sick season of 2015 continues).  I even put together a gratitude tree and we didn't populate it with leaves (what a sad little sight, we may have to leave it up and populate it in January).

I really have so much to be grateful for, our beautiful home, healthy children.  I guess it's all about perspective.  We ended up celebrating with our cousins from Philly.  The weather was beautiful and we sat out on the deck in the sunshine and smelled the turkey cooking.  We had a wonderful visit, beautiful meals, delicious pies.  The kids were so happy to be together and joyously played for several days.  It all cheered me up and reminded me of all the things we have to be thankful for. 

Heber's beautiful smoked turkey

A couple of days after Thanksgiving, another little boost came.  We've been gearing up for the holidays and I really wanted a new Christmas tree.  We're in our new home, we've had our little Charlie Brown trees for lots of years and I felt like it was time to move on up.  The problem is that I just didn't really want to allocate money to that, especially with all the expenses (happy ones, but still) that come this time of year.  I looked at trees but just didn't ever buy one.

I was out talking to a neighbor last week and mentioned the quest for a new tree.  He said that he had one in the house that I could HAVE.  What?  Well, he's a UPS driving and picks them up all the time on his route as people are getting rid of them.  Now I have this beautiful seven foot tree.  It always seems like there are little tender mercies like this especially at this time of year.  We didn't need it but somehow it happened.  After all of that lack of gratitude at Thanksgiving, it put in perspective the concern that God has for me even in my silly desire for a new tree.

It made me think of Christmas two years ago.  We were living in the little Logan condo having just moved a few weeks before.  I was days away from having a baby.  I was feeling pretty down about everything, especially with all the crap that happened with Heber's job when we moved there.  I felt lonely, having left a life in Virginia and to top it off, Heber was on a week long business trip right before Christmas.  Right in the midst of all that emotion and hard times, there was a knock on the door.  A sweet girl in my neighborhood came by with bread to welcome me to the area.  How did she know that I needed that gift of friendship so much at that time.

There are these little mercies that come into my life and make me believe in the beauty of life again, that add light in hard times and make me realize how much I have to be grateful for.  Every time I look at the tree, I'm going to think of that.