Today started out early, when Lee woke us up and said it was snowing outside( I don't think we ever, out grow the excitement for snow, and especially on a holiday). Then around 9:00 Lauren and I got the turkey ready and going...you know the rest from there... sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, setting the table, Christmas music in the air, dressing, gravy and on and on. John, Amy and girls came over with the rest of the meal,and our sparkling cider...yes it was a great day! The only thing that could have made it better would have been if Brad and Krystal and our other family could have been with us!
One of our Thanksgiving traditions is ...after we all sat down and before the prayer, we always go around the table and everyone mentions something that they are grateful for... it always does my heart good to listen to how thankful my family is for soooo many things. At the end we asked Angie what she was thankful for, not sure if she understood or not, so Amy re-worded it. She said " Angie, what makes you happy?" Her sweet response, without any hesitation was " My Heavenly Father". Yes, out of the mouths of babes!
We received a Thanksgiving email from some dear friends of ours, who just recently battled with cancer. Part of my friend's email was to her kids and one thing that stuck me the most, was this part of her letter.
"While I cannot remember such a physically painful challenge as the cancer in my life, I have also never felt so close to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and appreciated the Atonement. I would not exchange the experience for what I have learned and for how I have been blessed to see life through different eyes, and with a different heart. I hope you can be grateful for that for me.
And I hope that you are feeling the Lord's love for you, too, as you draw close to Him in your decisions, choices. I know He is there for you, just as he has been there and continues to be there for me. I hope you will remember that your mother trusted God and He never let her down! And that she has faith and trusts that He is as mindful of you as He is her… "
I think the reason this hit home to me, is because that is exactly how I have felt, and exactly what I have tried to teach my children, through my whole cancer experience. I believe Mothers, think an awful lot alike.
So tonight I sit here and realize that my eyes and heart have been changed too, for the better! And for that I am very grateful. I am also grateful for each one of you, and pray that you were able to find something to be thankful for, on this wonderful Thanksgiving Day!
Love, The Woodards
"A single grateful thought toward heaven is the most complete prayer." Gotthold Lessing
Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action." W. J. Cameron
"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." Albert Schweitzer
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