Thanksgiving Blessings

As I sit here in my warm, cozy house, there is a nor'easter blowing outside. A monster storm is blowing all the way up the east coast, bringing only rain and maybe some sleet mix overnight here, but a bunch of snow further inland.



A picture from my Father-in-law from this morning. This is where we go when we're with my husband's family for Thanksgiving. Praising God for His protective hand as they drove there today!

 

We are staying home and celebrating Thanksgiving with my family this year. I have a large family; my father is one of 8 children (he's #6, so one of the younger ones), I have 22 first cousins, and since I'm the second youngest of those, I have more cousins than I can actually count. Maybe one day I should sit down and actually count them! I know that when I married my love almost 16 years ago, there were 33 great-grandchildren. Wow. There are great-GREAT-grandchildren now!

Large family in mind, when I was young, we didn't have your normal Thanksgiving feast. No, not us. The first time I ever had turkey on Thanksgiving was when I was newly married and celebrated with my husband's family. What did we have? Well, remember, I live on a farm. (I'll tell you more about that in another post.) We have, since I was a baby, had barbeque for Thanksgiving. When I was young, we actually parked the pig cooker and a flatbed in the woods, everyone brought a dish and dinner time began at or about 1pm. (Remember, cows have to be milked twice a day, and at that time it was 4am and 4pm. We had to be done in time for milking!) Nowadays, we usually park the cooker and flatbed in a barn, place hay bales all around (if you want to bring a chair, go right ahead!) and eat there. This year, I think we will be in a more covered barn, because of all the rain we've had the last couple of days, and it's going to be cold.

My paternal grandparents have gone to Glory (Grandma in 1996 and Grandpa in 2001), and my dear Aunt went home to meet them in 2013 (Dad's older sister).

Me and my Aunt Viola, Thanksgiving Day 2012
 

Usually we have about 70 people here, and it has, in the past, gotten close to 100 people! This year, it looks like it's going to be a smaller year, because of sickness and families kind of splitting off to do their own things. Makes me a little sad, really. I'm only here for Thanksgiving every other year, so I'll miss them. We'll have the big family Christmas Dinner next month, though.


We tend to invite more than just family, too. There was the year that my best friend and her family didn't travel, so they came here and dined while sitting on fine hay bales. Another year, a family that we were in a life group with had their oldest daughter off at college, and it was too far away for her to come home. They decided to come to our Thanksgiving, and loved it!! I have to admit, it's pretty fun!

I want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. Please, take the time to sit and reflect about all that you have to be thankful for. Despite life's struggles, we can always find at least one thing, right?

What is it that you are most thankful for this year? Let me know! I'd love to hear from you.