Giving Thanks: Family

Hello week of Thanksgiving and 70 temps for a Monday! With visions of sweet potato casserole, Christmas decorating and shopping, and pecan pie dancing in my head, that's enough to be thankful for right there! But since I can talk with the best of them, there will most certainly be more said to that. Sprinkled across the blog this week will be snippets of some of the things for which I am most thankful. I've moved up in years from writing "Pilgrims" on that orange construction paper pumpkin in kindergarten. Today that little orange pumpkin would read:

Family

This past weekend I was able to attend the ordination service of my small group leader. During his time of testimony, Shane mentioned in a thank you of sorts that his parents were "grace to him." How true that is for me and yet it is often taken for granted. I'd like to dream the dream that everyone has a functional, loving family in our world. But that's not true. It's not always considered normal to talk to your mom a couple of times a day about the most random and craziest things of life. It's definitely probably not considered normal to talk with my dad every so often about the things that matter most such as the car, Duke basketball, Nascar or the fella. God's grace to me is that He has gifted me with loving parents and a brother that matches. I realize that many of my friends have a similar family life as I do - one that is grounded in faith and love. But in a world that is hopeless apart from Christ, there are those families with broken relationships, hurt, daughters who despise their mothers, sibling rivalries, absentee fathers, and jealousy. 

This doesn't exist in my family. In my family there is always a television show to be discussed; a meal to be shared; a Sunday service or church project; an errand to run together; a laugh over a joke from ten years ago; a roast to be frowned upon; a cake to be sliced at Mema's; a game of Scattergories to be played at the family holiday gathering; a dog to be joked about; and a home to be treasured when everyone is under one roof.

This is my family. This is God's grace to me.