Happy Thanksgiving!

I have many, many things to be thankful for, especially as I look back on this past year and consider the wonderful things God has blessed me with. Here are a few of them.

• The enveloping and far-reaching Love and Grace of God. I have experienced more freedom and joy resting (a little more) in the truth of His unconditional Love this year.
• My husband. How can a person get through life without someone who knows the inner workings of your soul and loves you anyway? For me, this is Chad. And it is so fun to watch him being a dad.
  
• My son. It was a year ago today that I found out I was pregnant (last year, the day before Thanksgiving). I remember the excitement and wonder I experienced that day knowing that a new person was growing inside me. I am so thankful that I have the privilege of being his mama and experiencing the joy of loving him and raising him.
• My extended family. I am so thankful that I have good friendships with my mom, my dad and my sister, even though they live far away. (In that vein, I am also thankful for cellular phones, the internet, web cameras and flickr.) These people have known me my whole life (or, in my sister's case, her whole life) and love me.
• My in-laws. The more I know them, the more I love them. I am so grateful that we live near them and that they like to hang out with Gavin us. There are a lot of them (Chad's two parents, five siblings, one sister-in-law and one niece), and each one of them brings something uniquely special to the family.

There are many other things in my life that I am thankful for. But now I need to get ready to go be with family and eat tasty turkey and other goodies, more things for which I am thankful and which I am looking forward to enjoying.