Tag Archives: thanksgiving

So Thankful

1 Christ is All, 2 Mi Familia, 4 Home & Garden/Food & Seasons, Stuff I Actually Think, ,

Redemption…a Savior…my lover and husband, Dave…the five children I carried to birth – watching them become the people God intended…Giving Thanks…the 5 grandchildren who call me Nonna and run into my arms in front of people making me look really good…parents who raised me for God…my siblings and the people they married, the nieces and nephews they share with me…music…The Word of God…gardening…tomatoes….flowers and green, green grass…cold water…thunder and lightening to go to sleep by…the smell of a cleansing rain…a harvest moon…Grateful…my amazing American Down and Feather  pillow…So Blessed…caramel…pumpkin spice lattes…long kisses…foot rubs…something that makes me laugh out loud…really good and loyal friends…the 3rd Thursday women…Thanksgiving Dinner…Charmin triple-ply, extra soft…Ephesians…Gavin’s red hair… Averi’s chunky legs in white tights…Gemma giving the dog orders – and being obeyed!…Guini’s soft hugs and kisses…So Appreciative…Hunter’s m&m toes…hot coffee on cool mornings…for over 300 sunny days a year in Colorado…Dave’s dimples…the comfort of the Lord…the healing of the Lord…being loved by the Lord…having enough to eat…getting to eat with friends and family at the convivial table…the quiet God has provided to write and dream and create…the noisy family dinners…the promises of God…Counting My Blessings…the sidewalk that leads to the world’s nicest neighbors…the strength represented by the mountains…the fact that the mountains help me keep my bearings, direction-wise…the artistic, creative types who color my world…getting to help produce Heaven Fest…getting to invite people in to 24/7 worship in the metro-area…the nearly 100 sunsets I have watched this year-the most in my life-because they have been amazingly beautiful and healing…my summer of love…this year of worship…God is Good…new friends…people that stand by you through thick and thin…re-acquainting with long-time friends…having any friends at all…God is Faithful…a song that ushers in the Presence…a powerful sermon…the ministries I am a part of…new mercies every morning…spiritual daughters and sons…a good church home…provision…rescue…deliverance…mended relationships…Jesus – the center of my joy…joy

Bing Crosby & Rosemary Clooney sang this in the Movie White Christmas, 1954

When I’m worried and I can’t sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep,
And I fall asleep counting my blessings.
When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all,
And I fall asleep counting my blessings.

This is what I am singing…Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF:  Be more purposely thankful and grateful, for the love of Pete.  No whining!  I am blessed.

Table of Grace

2 Mi Familia, 4 Home & Garden/Food & Seasons, Stuff I Actually Think,

This is a beautiful table.  These are my colors, but it isn’t mine. (Where do you find a pumkin like that?  Ha!)

On mine there’ll be some mix and match dishes because we’ll have a bigger crowd (16 and maybe more?).  And while fresh, sauteed green beans are much better for you, one of my girls will fix that once-a-year-cooked-and-soup-saturated-into-oblivion Green Bean Casserole with the crunchy french-fried onions on top.  It’s just a part of the day.

There’ll be cranberry juice and Sprite spritzers, pretty and festive.  All of the usual food suspects will be here.  We’ll hang our “thankful leaves” on our little centerpiece “grateful tree.”  Even with both leaves in the table (making it 9 feet long), we’ll add on and cover a card table and pull out all the folding chairs we can find for extra seating.  Sometimes I think about getting some fabric chair covers to pull it all together, but then  realize – the beauty of my table won’t have come from Pottery Barn or Williams and Sonoma.

The radiant beauty of our convivial table this Thursday will be the faces seated around it: my kids and grandbabies, good friends, a niece and a nephew (one from South Dakota and one from Montana – on loan to me from their parents).  The beauty will be the abundance of the food (we are so blessed) prepared with love.  It will be the laughter and understanding between strong-willed and passionate people, choosing to honor those all around them.  And for  for Dave and Tara and Hunter who are travelling in the Pacific Northwest this week and next – absent from us physically, they are deeply planted in our hearts and will be missed.

The house will host some awkward transition decoratively speaking with gourds and pumkins adorning various surfaces while the big tree is in mid-decor and Christmas boxes will be marching in throughout the day.  I’m always so excited to see what I got last year on clearance after the holidays.

Today I read David’s words of awe when the LORD established an everlasting covenant with him and his house:

“Who am I, O LORD God, And what is my house that You have brought me this far?”  1 Chronicles 17.16 NKJV

And I concur and wonder the same, with great thanks…Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF:  Give thanks.  Because God is good and establishing my household at a table of mercy, a table of grace.

A Very Happy Thanksgiving to You and Yours!

2 Mi Familia, 4 Home & Garden/Food & Seasons, Stuff I Actually Think,

OK. This is what happens.  You spend years making ridiculous amounts of food for Thanksgiving.  Then one day you realize: NO ONE needs that much food at one meal on one day EVER.  So, you say to the now-grown children, “Let’s simplify.  Let’s do less.  L:et’s decide to fix only what we must positively have to create the Thanksgiving feast of our dreams.”

And when all is said and done and everyone has made their decisions – we are still having too much food! 

At least now they all pitch in, so my life really is easier.

We’re pretty traditional.   I am roasting the 23.18 pound turkey.  I’ll just create the fabulous dressing on the side because that whole stuffing-inside-the-turkey thing is still a bit scary…you never know.  I will also mash 10 pounds of real-butter-and-heavy-cream potatoes with just the right amount of garlic.  They are to die for, if I must say so myself.  And I am an amazing gravy-maker.  There’ll be some dips and hors d’eouvres (gotta have the shrimp cocktail with Bookman’s sauce) and that is it!  The rest of the sides and pies and must-haves will come from my kiddos.

What are you eating Thursday?…Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF:  Better check Martha’s website to make sure I’m up on the latest turkey info…