Happy Thanksgiving!

The homemade cornbread stuffing is in the process of being made, the fresh vegetable broth is cooking down for brining the turkey in the morning and Mark is working away on homemade pie crusts for a nice spicy Pumpkin Pie and our version of Omi's gooey crumbly apple pie, the house smells like Thanksgiving and is reminding me of celebrating Thanksgiving with family when I was a kid. As a pastor's family we are miles and miles away from our families and find ourselves celebrating with a new kind of family, one comprised of friends, fellow Christians, and strangers, a different kind of celebration, but one in which we are very thankful to be in.

First and foremost I am thankful for forgiveness of my sins, faith and salvation given to me freely from Jesus Christ my Savior. I'm thankful that this same faith is shared by my family and loved ones. I'm thankful that those members of family that I miss most often, my dad, Mark's mom, my Uncle Fred, my Grandma, and Mark's best-friend Troy all shared that same faith and that this Thanksgiving they celebrate with Christ in person!

I am thankful for my family that is here and miles and miles away. For a loving husband who puts up with my craziness and continues to love me more each day, for our precious little boy who is so wonderful and for whom we are so thankful to have at home, for my family in Montana, Louisiana and Arkansas and various other states and Mark's family in North Carolina and Oklahoma who we get to enjoy in person from time to time and on the phone and email whenever we get the chance. For friends that have become so close that they are like family, the Sipes who are in transit to Wyoming and the Jacksons who live a couple hours north of us.

I am thankful for the friends and fellow Christians that we have, those in Mark's congregations who make serving Christ in this place a joy, and those that we've met through John's hospitalizations and those Loopers who have touched our lives in wonderful ways that we never dreamed of, especially the Bakers and Middendorfs.

I am thankful that I live in this country, the greatest country on earth ever, where I can worship without fear, where I can freely voice my opinion, where I can travel freely to go and see my friends and family and where I can enjoy my 2nd amendment rights to the nth degree or the extent of a paycheck at least :)

I could go on for hours and pages, I tend to be an optimistic person anyway and when it comes to listing those things that I'm thankful for there is no end, because there is no end of the blessings which Christ has showered upon us. I mention one more before the last, that I am thankful that this Thanksgiving we get to celebrate with Tiffany, our friends daughter, who despite some trials and setbacks in her young life is back on the path of success and taking one step after another to insure that she has the bright and wonderful future that we've all known she could have, and have prayed that she will live.

Finally I am thankful for this venue to share John's life and ours, to vent, to opine, to get on my soapboxes and to get out some of the talk, talk, talk that I'm wired to do.