Tomorrow will be the day I gather with my family here in WI. I will bake a ham and many of my most favorite sides and appetizers. I will spend the morning doing some shopping but mostly I will cook. Thanksgiving to me is all about showing your love through cooking and baking. It is a time to spend unadulterated time with family. We will put up our tree and play Christmas music most of the day. I love the energy of this season.
Growing up, like many families, we would take time to go around the room and each say what we were grateful for on Thanksgiving. Additionally, we would take time daily to pray and offer thanks to our Creator for all that we were blessed with. Every day we were taught to appreciate everything that life gave us. We lived what I would consider to be a "simple" life. We were never wealthy but our parents taught us to find richness in work, nature, and family.
Today, I struggle to list off the details of all of my blessings without the burn of hot tears coming to my eyes. The sheer overabundance overwhelms me. Words of gratitude NEVER suffice.
MY DEAR JOHN
I love him. So much to be grateful for especially in the last couple of months. He possesses many qualities that I envy. He recognizes the needs of others in ways that I never consider. He has this ability to make me laugh so hard I want to pee my pants. His "politics" are remarkable. We don't always stand on the same side of issues but when he stands he is immovable and holds to his convictions. I respect that so much. I am thankful for his ability to remind me who I am during those times that I tend to forget. His patience is perhaps the most underrated of all of his qualities. It has been absolutely essential for our relationship and he rarely falters in it.
MY FAMILY
My parents are unbelievable. The older I get, the more I see just how amazing they are. I kick myself often for not paying more attention to the things they said or did while I was growing up. How valuable those lessons or skills would be if I could just remember them in completeness. My siblings...I was lucky to have five. Five very different individuals who have each taken time out of their lives to teach me. I feel so fortunate to have grown up with each of them. Perhaps the thing I am most grateful to have received from my family was the ability to build a relationship with my Heavenly Father.
MY FRIENDS
Moving around so much leaves me now with most of my friends living states away but the lessons I learn from them are priceless. God has always given me a strong support system everywhere I have lived. Many times friends became my "family" to fill roles where distance left vacancies from my biological siblings.
I have so much more on mind that I continue to find difficulty in articulating. I am twenty-seven and I feel as though I have had some exceptional experiences. My relationships with friends, family, and God have made them possible.
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