Thankful

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, hands-down, but this year I'm feeling a bit of bloggy pressure to write some Deeply Touching Treatise on thankfulness, something in which I repeatedly use the word "autumnal" while describing the vast range of colors one can find in a single maple leaf as it basks in the rays of a golden harvest sun.

(I don't know if y'all have caught on to this or not, but Descriptive Word Pictures aren't really my thing, seeing as how I have the vocabulary of your average eighth grader, not to mention the fact that I'm far too literal to compare that ever-changing maple leaf to, say, a cocoon, because for one thing there's only one way I know how to describe a maple leaf (ORANGE!), cocoons really gross me out, and I believe my usage of the phrase "gross me out" brings us right back to what I was saying about my eighth grade vocabulary.)

So I will not be discussing nature in this post, is all I'm saying.

Limited descriptive powers aside, I have so much to be thankful for - an embarrassment of riches, in fact. And those riches have absolutely nothing to do with money or houses or cars or even my beloved DirecTV / TiVo combination. Instead, those riches have everything to do with faith and family and friends...and when I start to think about the people I love and the people who love me, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I'm blessed beyond measure.

Not to mention: the blawg.

Almost a year ago, I sat in the rocking chair in our guest bedroom while keeping one eye on Alex in the bathtub, and I wrote my first blog post. It wasn't anything special - just about the events of the day - and I wrote it with no audience in mind, fully believing that no one would ever read it besides David and me.

(Perhaps now you'll understand why my sideline business in fortune telling isn't really all that successful. I'm not very strong with the predictions.)

I guess what I'm saying is this: I had no idea that this blog would turn out to be such an incredible blessing in my life. I had no idea that people would, you know, read it. But I am forever humbled and forever grateful that you do...and your encouragement, your emails, your comments, and your friendships have been life-changing for me. I can't tell you how thankful I am for that.

All week long a song that we sometimes sing at our church has been running through my head, and while I wanted so badly to be able to share a recording of it with y'all, I can't find one on this here interweb (and they say it's useful - HMMMPH!).

But I did find the lyrics - I think they're beautiful on their own.

For all that You've done, I will thank You
For all that You're going to do
For all that You've promised and all that You are
Is all that has carried me through
Jesus, I thank You

and I thank You
thank You,
Lord
and I thank You
thank You

Thank You for loving and setting me free
Thank You for giving Your life just for me
How I thank You
Jesus, I thank You
I gratefully thank You
And I thank You
Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.