On this Thankful Thursday, my heart is so full.  We’ve had a full day…a last hurrah of sorts before the exodus of my children begins… Up early, turkey in the oven because even with this full day of family time white water rafting and kayaking and traveling, we have a surprise Christmas dinner (slash birthday dinner, slash Easter dinner, slash every holiday that my son will be missing in the next year as he is overseas and we are here…) So after the extreme fun and workouts at the National Whitewater rafting center in Charlotte, we came home to a house decorated for Christmas, with a turkey that was very well done, and mashed potatoes and ‘fixins’ prepared by my daughter and her friend and my oldest son.  All hands were helping to get things ready.  Even though the dinner wasn’t hot, it was delicious, and we had precious people around the table to enjoy it and then watch as Austin opened “Christmas gifts” from his family.  So thankful for little things that are big things.  So aware of how precious each little hug or laughter or tears are when you’re aware that transitions are just around the corner and you won’t have that time at the table or in the car or on the couch.  So, today, here’s my list of some of the many things I’m thankful for…

For Family.

For answered prayer.

For the God who answers prayer and is in the little and the big.

For interventions with good intentions and humbled responses.

For breakthroughs that come through listening and hearing, and speaking and sharing.

For adult “children” who are willing to get in there to laugh, hug, love, speak, share, and encourage one another to move towards the best rather than to settle with the status quo.

For little things that become the big things we remember when we’re not together.

For strong bodies and tenacious, determined minds that will the bodies to move when it’s not easy.

For the willingness to take huge leaps of faith.

For courage and the determination to “do it afraid”.

For second chances, forgiveness, and the truth that we are all in this together and need each other.

Thankful for a God who truly hears, answers, and so knows what He is doing.  He goes before us and behind.

For rest and soft pillows and the ability to slow down and just stop after pushing and working and dealing with details.

For the fact that for a few short days, I can have all of my children under one roof and look them in the eyes, hug them, and know that for right here, right now, everyone is safe and sound.

For the many worlds that my children are seeing and for how we get to vicariously see and experience them as they share about them.

For seven layer bars with chocolate chips and nuts and coconut and for the Grammie that prepared them.

For grandparents that love well.

For people getting in there with details like moving and packing and sharing trailers, and cleaning and the fact that we need each other…we really need each other.

For good byes that hurt so bad that dams burst that we didn’t even know were there and allow tears to fall that need to cleanse the heart of the vain attempts to not feel so daggone bad when we need to say good byes.

For siblings that truly do love each other and are still so who they were from the get go in their lives.

For feet that are about to go so many different places, but that know their way home.

For home…and the reality of the fact that home is more about the who than the what.

Thankful for the ‘whos” in my world, and the ‘whats’ that brings us together and help us to make memories that no one can take away.

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