Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.
I’m starting this Thanksgiving week with so much gratitude for God’s multiplied blessings — far more than I could ever deserve! I am not lucky, fortunate, or merely disciplined. I am the recipient of God’s grace – His unmerited favor because I am His and He is mine. It’s not enough to just say “Thank you!”, but to do something with the grace and blessings I’ve been given.
I know there is a responsibility that comes with privilege. I am blessed to bless. Gifted so I can give. That giving may come as simply being a bright light that someone may need today.
Thanksgiving. Thanks-living. I live large in the thanksgiving arena. I am strategic. That all being said….my array of baked cookies is boxed along with groceries for food preparations are ready to be loaded in my car. I’ll be leaving for Rusk, TX tomorrow morning for a week of Thanksgiving living.
Rusk TX (45 minutes east of Tyler) is where my children’s ranch and home are. Staci, my daughter, alerted me that her place is a Christmas Winter Wonderland as she already has all her Christmas décor up.
She inspired me. On Friday, I put on Christmas music and got into the Christmas spirit. I replaced my Fall/Thanksgiving décor with Christmas décor. It was an easy one-day feat. Certainly not to the degree of the Christmas land that my homes looked like years before. Our homes were always fully decked out – inside AND out! AND, as you can see — I am no Joanna Gaines!
I am loving this less hassle and simplistic décor of my much smaller place where Jesus and me have good tidings of great joy together every day! I love embracing each season and making it as memorable as I can, I love Fall, which by the way…..Mother Nature decided to skip right over it to Winter here in Austin. I loved my Fall décor, my pumpkin spice coffee, and the leaves changing colors.
Surely, this week we’ll be embracing Thanksgiving as we express our gratitude for the Pilgrims, our turkey meal, family togetherness, all with an attitude of gratitude for God’s beneficent blessings.
BUT….if the weather is a consideration for changing of seasons inside and outside our homes, then we qualified for making the change. On Saturday, here in Austin, it was cold to the bone because of the rain and temperatures of 37 degrees. Yesterday, it rose to the low 40s. I brought out my warm-to-the-bones parka!
How natural it is that the gratitude we express at Thanksgiving is the “opening act” for Christmas! Joy to the world; the Lord has come. It really is the most wonderful time of the year. As I set out my many nativity and Holy Family scenes, I was already allowing myself to get caught up in the miraculous Christmas story.
I’m honing into this beautiful journey that will lead to the most Holy Day when our Savior was born. Christmas is more than a season or a day. It is the time for unspeakable joy, indescribable love, and amazing sacrifice. The ONE Who placed the stars in the sky and Who knows them all by name — chose to come to this earth as a little baby to be with us, understand us, live in this world like us.
He totally gets us and our frailties, but better yet, He is our all-powerful, incomparable, awesome, and amazing God. That’s plenty reason to celebrate all year round! So…..let’s merge it all together. Thanksgiving and Christmas – it’s just too great a story to compact it into only one celebration, so……Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to you and yours!
