Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! I hope and pray that where ever y'all are that you have had a blessed day thus far and that the rest of it is filled blessings also.
We just got back in from Ky and I must say that we had a wonderful time with family. At one time I looked around to take in all the faces and you know how you can have flash backs of days gone by. In that single moment, many many many of the Thanksgiving Days that I can remember flashed thru my memory. It was one of those times when I would loved to have had those memories on a dvd to pop into a player and share them with everyone there.
You know, things change. They just do. We can't stop the changes from happening. The best we can possibly do is ask God to help us thru those changes.
I seen us all in the house out in the country that all my brothers and I grew up in. The place we called home for longer than I have been on planet earth. Momma in the kitchen cooking and getting the meal ready for no less than 8 to inhale in one fell swoop!! hahaha I see all of us eating the best turkey and dressing that anyone was ever blessed to eat. Momma still the makes the best turkey and dressing and today proved that point.
I seen the many times after the meal that my Dad and brothers would get out in the yard and after Mom and I got the kitchen cleaned up, maybe we would end up out there too. Sometimes it might be rainy and cold and we would all be inside, but where ever we were, we were full and there was always some laughter taking place.
One time, when we got older, just before my brothers started getting married, they had their girlfriends, soon to be wives and after lunch we all went to Split Rock. It was just a field with this humongous rock in it that was split right down the middle. The rock was 10-15 feet tall above ground, and the footprint of the rock was huge. We went and would work our way through the rock. It was a tight squeeze for all of us way back then and I couldn't help but grin today when that thought ran thru my mind, "we would just have to look at it today, because I don't think any of us could get thru the split!" I wish I had pictures of that rock. That was back before cell phones and all I have is memories.
2011 was the last Thanksgiving and Christmas that we had as a family of 8. Dad had gotten sick and was in Creekwood at Russellville. One of the churches in the community had the dining room reserved for their services after church and that church offered to give their church service time to my family so we could have Thanksgiving together and we accepted that offer and spent the day up there with my Dad. Then when Christmas rolled around, they gave us the dining hall again to celebrate Christmas. That was one of the memories that popped into my mind also. The kindness of other people allowed my family to have 2 special events with our Dad that we wouldn't have had otherwise. That ended up being the last of the family celebrations that included all 8 of us, the original crew.
Today, we still have our beautiful Mom and she is still one of the best cooks in the country!!! When she cooks, you can taste the love in it!! I think it's fair to say that she's the glue that sticks us together. I know of no other mother anywhere that is any more loved by her children than my Mom. That is a strong testimony to her.
And, as I think about all that I have to be thankful for, family is at the top of the list. I think about my 5 brothers. Each one of them are good men. Above average by the worlds standards. They are hard working men with works ethics that can NOT be matched, by anyone. They are and have been good providers for the families. Thinking of the 6 of us siblings, we all are a lot grayer than we were a few years ago. There's probably more weight on each of us than there should be. We each have our own aches and pains that get worse with each passing year. But, one thing stays the same. I can shut my eyes and by all the laughter taking place, I can still put a young face with each different laugh that I hear. When I open my eyes, I am right, only the face that I am looking at may be a little more lined from age and the hairline may be receding a bit; there may be glasses where they hadn't always been. But there is always a familiar, smiling face. The face of men that used to be boys. They are now husbands, fathers and grandfathers. And they are my brothers and I'm proud of them and thankful for each and every one of them!!
I am thankful to God for all the blessings that He has heaped upon my family!!! I am thankful for all my nieces and nephews and their husbands and wives and all their children!! When I look at them, I realize that our family is in good hands. There was 4 generations there today. I realize that a lot of families have more generations than that, but I am still thankful for the 4 generations there today.
I said earlier that family was at the top at my list that I am thankful for. But, at the very top of my list, above family, is Christ!!! Without what Christ has done for me thru His shed blood, nothing else matters anyway. I am thankful that Christ loved me enough to die for me so that I could be in right relationship with God. I pray that as I go forward in my own life, that I am forever thankful and grateful for Christ and that I can share that thankfulness and gratefulness with others. Sometimes it just takes the blink of an eye to realize just how abundantly blessed one is and that is exactly what happened to me today in just the moment of a split second. Blessed and highly favored comes to mind!! Thank you God for the many blessings that You have bestowed upon my family!!!
I hope that each of y'all made memories today that will bring you joy in the days to come. And maybe, just for the blink of the eye, there were no empty chairs around the table.
Be blessed and thankful y'all!! Just know that God loves y'all and I do too!! hugs, patty
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