Thanksgiving Eve

Well here I sit contemplating a very different Thanksgiving coming up tomorrow. For the last 10 years I have been at the Mission. As you can imagine it is a very big day with hundreds of hungry homeless and over 100 volunteers coming in to help. Then there is the media and news crews that need to be escorted around. Thanksgiving was a very long, very busy day for me.

This year I will not be at the Mission. That was already a huge change. I will also not have a husband. That is a huge gaping aching hole in my holiday, but I was really looking forward to spending this Thanksgiving with my family for the first time in a decade. Then Dad was hurt. Family plans came to a screeching halt. I decided that I will spend the day at the hospital with mom and dad. I am very grateful that I will be able to be with them. Though it will be very different than I had imagined my Thanksgiving to be.

It makes me stop to reflect on what Thanksgiving is. There will be no turkey with all the trimmings for me, there will be no pumpkin pie to finish off the meal. In fact the hospital cafeteria is closed and we will be scrambling to find a vending machine tomorrow. But I am reminded that Thanksgiving is not about what I eat, it is about what I am thankful for. I do have things to be thankful for. Here are a few that come to mind tonight.

• Mom and Dad
• Dad's Recovery
• My Children
• My Friends
• Ministry
• Roof Over my Head
• Pets who Love Me
• God's Grace
• God's Love
• Hope for Tomorrow

The truth is that tomorrow is about love and relationships, not the traditions of what and where I eat. I am so very grateful for everyday that I have to spend with my parents. It is an incredible blessing and gift. I can't ask for more than that. Tomorrow will truly be Thanksgiving for me.

"Let us come before him with thanksgiving" Psalm 95:2

Just Connie