Thanksgiving Down South

There are not many places in the world where you can celebrate Thanksgiving week this way.  We experienced cold frosty days last week, but today, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we went to the beach. We had a great time and almost had the beach to ourselves.

We began with a picnic lunch on the beach.

Then some time spent in the sand

Olivia told her mother that she had decided that she wanted to live on the beach when she grows up. Megan told her that she would have to leave a room for her mom and her dad. She said, "deal!"

The next order of business was to purchase a Christmas tree on a budget.

We found one.

We were not going to get a wreath this year but the girls enthusiasm prove too much to bear; we totally caved.

And so we took it to the house.

Megan, Addison, and Emily Grace went to the tree lighting ceremony downtown while Olivia and I put the lights on the tree.

Just yesterday I got the Christmas lights put on the house. They look fabulous if I must say so myself.

We decorated the house and the tree.

Emily decorated mostly her favorite limb.

So, with the crazy weather and the Christmas preparations it would seem that Thanksgiving is clearly in our rearview mirror. It has been a crazy year. I I am concerned about my vocational future.  There has never been a time that finances was as much of a concern for me as it is today. It might seem to many that we don't have a heck of a lot to be thankful for but ... These girls above and all of the experiences in this entire blog atest to a God that loves us with all of his heart. He is faithful and He is a God that will never leave us.

We have plenty to eat. We have a home to live in. We have vehicles that run most of the time. We are surrounded by friends who have stuck with us and encouraged us like we have never felt encouragement before. We have family that love us. We have healthy children. We have a deep abiding love for one another, Megan and I. Our sins are forgiven past, present, and future. Our church bells ringing and freedom, we can worship as we please. We are free to pursue our greatest dreams and security and peace.

This Thanksgiving will not slip away without deep abiding thoughts and prayers of thanksgiving on our lips because we are blessed indeed! It is not easy, and we do not know what is ahead, but we do know that God is faithful and that he does have a plan for our family. 

I met with the dear old friend of mine last week,  just a few days before I preached her funeral. Some of her last words to me was a reminder that we don't know what tomorrow holds but we do know who holds tomorrow.  It is an old saying but it is so true. We can't wait to see what is next because somewhere deep in our souls we know that God is working on something great and that the best is yet to come!