Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Thanksgiving was almost a week ago, but I was out of town and didn't have a chance to post my Thanksgiving thoughts, so I figured I'd do it now! Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday. I love it because there are no expectations and it is just a time to be with family and friends and to really reflect on the blessings that the Lord has given over the year. Growing up, we always had this wonderful tradition after the Thanksgiving meal where we would go around the table and each of us would read a scripture of thanksgiving and then we would talk about what we were most thankful for that year. We always laughed and cried as we talked about the lavish blessings we had received that year. We would talk about our family heritage and how blessed we are to come from a family who loves the Lord. The year after my great-granddaddy died made us realize how blessed we were to come from such a line. I still told my great-grandmother this Thanksgiving that I am so grateful that she taught my grandmother who taught my mom who taught me that loving Jesus is the most important thing in the world. Above doing or anything else, we were to love Jesus first. I do love Him! And, not because He has lavished me again this year with so many blessings, but just because He is. He is my everything; my Saviour, my friend, my Shepherd, my shelter, my rock and my Lord. I am most thankful that I have the opportunity to love Him because He loved me first.

Of course, I am so incredibly thankful for the year that we have had with Sam. To watch him grow and learn is more than I can handle sometimes! He is talking in two word sentences now saying things like "I'm funny" or "It's pretty" or "I find." The problem with "I find" is that I hardly ever know what we're supposed to be finding and he can't always say what it is that we are looking for. And, he gets upset if he can't find "it." So, it is always an adventure! He has been an absolute joy over the past couple of weeks. He and I flew by ourselves to Atlanta to see David's family and he did great on the plane. In fact, he slept the entire time. His behavior was beyond my expectations as we vistied family and friends. I couldn't have asked for more. He wasn't perfect, but almost! We only had to do time out a couple of times and it actually worked, praise Jesus! My in-laws have an amazing backyard and Sam walked all over it saying "hi" to every (yard art) animal he could find. His grammie gave him a huge pot of dirt (durt) to play in and he had so much fun with it! She also had tons of David's old toys for Sam and he was in boy heaven there. I was kind of worried that he would be disappointed with his toys when we got home, but instead he was excited to see every one. Especially Tex! It is always great to get home, no matter how much fun you have while away. There's just something about "normal" that is nice. We are so thankful for everything that the Lord has done for us this year and grateful for the privilege of knowing Him!

2 comments:

Amanda said...

What a sweet conversation with your great-grandmother! I'm so glad you had a great Thanksgiving. It made me smile to imagine Sam playing with a big pot of dirt. They love the simplest things!

Ashley Turnbull said...

Yes, Sherry, a very sweet and moving tribute to the holiday! We don't know how blessed we are! Once again, I wish I had gotten to play in the dirt w/ Mr. Sam!