StC: For Everything Thy Goodness Sends

thank-ful

adjective | thank-fel |

pleased and relieved; expressing gratitude and relief:

an earnest and thankful prayer

When I think about putting into words what Thanksgiving is all about, I can't help but hear Marcie's voice inside my head...

"You heard what Linus was saying out there. Those early Pilgrims were thankful for what had happened to them, and we should be thankful, too. We should just be thankful for being together. I think that's what they mean by 'Thanksgiving,' Charlie Brown."

Even though it may surprise you, I will say, that it's not always easy to celebrate and give thanks. Sometimes people that we want to be with, cannot be there. And sometimes the ones we're with, don't always make it easy to be with. Sometimes things happen that we are not thankful for, and feelings of thankfulness seems far off and unreachable.

Last night, just before I was getting ready to go ice skating with my daughter, I realized that my mom's ring, that I wear constantly, was gone. I had lost my mother's diamond ring. The ring that she designed the same year I was born, that I used to spend hours counting all the tiny diamonds in it, just to make sure that all of them were there...is gone. I've gone and looked at every possible spot it might be, and its. just. not. there. Even though it's just an object, it's so much more to me than that. It feels like I've lost another piece of her. A piece of her heart, and who she was.

My sweet, optimistic little girl said on the way home, "We can spend all day tomorrow looking for it." I sighed and said, "No, we can't. Tomorrow's Thanksgiving." And nothing in me felt like being thankful for what today is.

But then, I look around. I see the faces around me that are only there because a good God decided to give me the most tremendous people to have in my life. My amazing, God-loving husband, my beautiful and precious two children, my parents and my husband's parents, our sisters and brothers, our nephews and nieces, our cousins, our grandparents, our aunts, our uncles, our friends. Their faces flood my mind, and I realize how truly grateful I am. I realize that's what Thanksgiving is all about.

I hope that your day today is full of rest and peace. Take the time to enjoy celebrating with your sweet families, and don't forget to give thanks...even if it doesn't come easy.

"For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food,

For love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends."

—Ralph Waldo Emerson