Giving Thanks

So, I had this big profound and poignant post about Thanksgiving and what it means to me that I was composing in my head. I had planned to post it yesterday, but my nephew woke up that morning with an ear ache. Which ment that all plans to spend Thanksgiving at my Aunt's house became tentative.

My Mother took him to the urgent care center, and found out that the poor little guy had a very bad ear infection in one ear and a not-quite-as-bad-one in the other ear. He was running a temperature, and just didn't feel very good. We decided that for his sake we would just stay here. My brother and sister-in-law and a family friend were on their way to the house, and we were going to have Thanksgiving for 7 adults and 5 children.

PANIC

All we had in the house to fix for Thanksgiving were two side dishes, and suddenly I was going to prepare Thanksgiving dinner. While my Mother was getting medicine for my nephew, I began making a quick menu. That was pretty easy. Then began the search for recipes, the making of a grocery list, and the shopping for a complete Thanksgiving feast the day before Thanksgiving. I was back at the house at 3:00 pm, and by midnight:30 I had all of the side dishes prepped for the oven, the pies (made from scratch) baked and waiting in the pantry, and the turkey defrosted and in the oven for a slow cook.

Now, I am not necessarily going into all this detail so that you can marvel at my Housewifelyness, but to tell you I had a blast doing it. Although I love my extended family, I was so excited to get to prepare this particular meal for my family. There is something about all the planning and preparation that I just love. My mother and husband tried to talk me into making Stove Top stuffing and buying pies, but I really wanted to make it all from scratch. Yes, I am insane. I did buy the pumpkin pie, but the apple pie I made all by myself.

Dinner was a hit, and we spent all day today in each other's company. Just our immediate family relaxing and enjoying each other. I was all proud of myself for what I had accomplished with this meal, and then God began to work on my heart. I really began to think about what was important and the things for which I had to be thankful. I began to realize how ungrateful I am, that today is the only day that I dedicate to being fully thankful the Almighty God. I had an extravagant meal to prepare for my family, but there are families today that went without food. I have a warm home and bed to sleep in, but there are families that tonight will wonder where they will find shelter. I have my family, but tonight there are people estranged from their families or without a family at all. God has been so good to me. He has given me so much. He has given me excess, but I complain, argue, and ask for more. My heart was broken with the realization of my own pride and selfishness, with the totallity of my own depravity. The thing for which I should be the most thankful is for the salvation that God has bestowed on me through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Without Him, I could do nothing,
Without Him, I'd surely fail;
Without Him I would be drifting like a ship without a sail.

Without Him, I would be dying,
Without Him, I'd be enslaved;
Without Him, life would be hopeless, but with Jesus, thank God, I'm saved.

Jesus, O Jesus, Do you know him today? You can't turn him away.
O Jesus, O Jesus, without him, how lost I would be.

I pray that today will be the first day in a life that will be marked by contentedness and thankfulness.