Come, Ye Thankful People, Come

Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet; praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with the stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Psalm 150

Every day is a good day to thank God. We've been thanking Him today for many things. We had the special opportunity today to
1) go to church
2) work together as a family to prepare a traditional Thanksgiving meal
3) relax and enjoy the beauty of Christian fellowship around our table

We used to have a tableful of guests this time of year every year many years ago. We always enjoyed it. But somehow, since we moved, we've never been able to accomplish it. Until this year. Our Thanksgiving weekend ended up being pretty empty as far as family plans, so we decided to give it a try. (We kind of miss those adoption fundraiser dinners anyway!) It was amazing how many more capable hands we have to pitch in than we used to.

Everyone did their part.

Faith's contribution was the pumpkin bread which she made earlier in the week while her friends were here, which might explain why the pictures are of the batter rather than them, but then again, maybe not? anyway, I wasn't home when they made it to take pictures, but it was delicious!

After a long time spent relaxing and visiting around the table (so nice to not be in a rush), we sang some songs together

It was in a lull in conversation after the last song that I overheard Kenan saying softly to our dear guests, "Its time for you to leave now."  (and no, for those of you who might be wondering, Dave did not tell him to say that!!)

I was horrified! But then we realized that he had spied a little gift that A. Laura had brought with her and had asked her when he could open it. So when she said he could after we leave, he got to thinking... maybe it was time to do just that!

We had a good laugh, but even more than that, we're going to bed with smiles in our hearts and on our faces. And in the days ahead, when its not Thanksgiving anymore, and when there's work to be done and school to do and the never-ending to-do list, and the constant running out of time feeling, we'll try to remember today and more importantly, the blessings we are given every day and to come with thanksliving to praise the Lord. 

(but for now- well, we've got some pretty fun and exciting days coming up....)