Thanksgiving is the time of year most of us look back and reflect on all that the Lord has blessed us with over the past twelve months. Unlike Christmas, there aren’t a million expectations to work hard to meet as well as those to be fulfilled in our own hearts; Thanksgiving is a time of feeling “full” instead of depleted. The “groaning boards” of food suffuse us with the sensation of effulgent abundance even before we consume it. Barring personal difficult circumstances, it is a time to feel that all is right with the world.
I can’t help but feel that I have more to be grateful for than I did last Thanksgiving. We here at Dunhaven Place have enjoyed over three years of steady employment and though our income is small there has always, one way or another, been enough to meet our needs as well as some of our wants. The Little Guy is no longer in kindergarten so my days are much more my own to spend as I see fit. All the mood-disordered persons in my household are somewhat less moody this year than last. I have been blessed with truly wonderful supportive friends. I have had the opportunity to cyber-visit with many far away family members and had the chance to spend quality face time with close family members, as well. I was so privileged as to witness the wedding/sealing of my niece in the very same place my ancestors were married/sealed over a hundred years ago. We have only lost one person this year, Great Grandma Liz, who is no doubt grateful herself that she got to spend birthday #91 in heaven. I have a book that I wrote to hold in my hand, something which has been a dream of mine for (many) decades. And I have discovered the wonderful world of blog, a place filled to overflowing with fun, intelligent, kind and wonderful people all over the world.
Today in church, the Big Guy drew a picture of a tree with three kinds of fruit, apple, orange and plum. He explained that the fruit represented choices; if you made good choices, you got to eat the fruit and if you made bad choices, you would be forced to eat only the seeds.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. I am so grateful that he understands the concept of consequences, though I would add this to what he said, and hope he understands this concept one day, as well. Sometimes we get seeds even when we make good choices and sometimes we get fruit even when we make bad choices. This past year, I have been blessed with fruit, some earned, some not. Some of the fruit has been in the shape of apples, oranges and plums but most of it has been in the shape of each one of you. For which I am very grateful.
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