Thanksgiving

Yes, it's cliche, but I am going to dedicate a whole post to giving thanks. I am thankful all year, but it's good to be specific in our thanks at Thanksgiving. In this year, which has probably been our worst, it's sometimes too easy to only think of all we've lost and the injustices that have occurred. Sometimes it's too easy to be angry and to hold grudges. But today, I will be thankful. I will be thankful, because God has given me so much more than all I've lost.

I am thankful for my husband. I am thankful for his health, for his never-ending perseverance, for working a job he hates because our family is more important to him than anything. I am thankful that our love and our marriage is stronger now than when we started out. I'm thankful for a man who fully stands behind me in the decisions we make as a couple and the ones I make as an individual. I am thankful that he encourages me to pursue my dreams, that he entrusts our family life to my care and discretion. He is truly the man of my dreams.

I am thankful for my children. My boys. I couldn't ask for sweeter, more joyful boys. I am thankful they are healthy. I am thankful they grow and get stronger, and that they are happy. I am thankful every time I see their sweet smiles, every time I get spontaneous kisses and hugs, every time I hear "I love you." I am thankful my boys have each other, and show their love, apart from my own. I'm even thankful when they show anger or throw some sort of fit or tantrum. I am thankful they feel comfortable enough to do so and know that they are still unconditionally loved. I am thankful that I get to be their mom and that God entrusts them to me.

I am thankful for very generous family. I am thankful we have a home to live in because of them. I am thankful for everything they've done for us, not just since our life exploded in August, but always. We come from two incredible families, who don't think twice about helping when they can. We are so blessed.

I am thankful for friends. I am thankful for the friends we left in Victoria. How I miss them, but I know they think of us, and pray for us, and miss us, too. I am thankful for the friends in our church there, who were so incredibly generous of their time, resources, and friendship extended to us. I am thankful for friends in New Zealand, who will undoubtedly make this new transition easier for us. What a joy it will be to see familiar, loving faces as we again enter a new phase of our lives.

I am thankful for a job for Colin. I am thankful that he is able to do what he loves and is passionate for. I am thankful that because he is able to teach drama, I can continue to do what I'm passionate about and be home with my boys and homeschool, and pursue my own educational dreams (I'll save that one for another post).

We are thankful that wherever we are in the world, we are loved, both from near and far. We are held in God's hand, whether in Canada or New Zealand. That is more important than anything I could imagine. We are His. We are thankful to be God's children.