Lots to be thankful for. Sometimes, we get so into the notion of the “dinner,” we forget the “Thanksgiving.”
This Thanksgiving I was thankful for much:
- for an amazing wife with buckets of patience and 55-gallon drums full of grace and beauty
- for three kids that are happy, beautiful, wonderful, smiling, growing, learning, silly – and who help give purpose to this rock
- for friends to spend time with (and all the friends we didn’t get to, but whom we love, and love us, just the same)
- for games to play (wii, board, and more)
- for mercy and grace, and a God who has plenty of it
- for a job, and the bills getting paid
- for parents who loved me enough to shape me into the man I am
- for brothers and sisters
- for seasons, and holidays, days off, and Christmas music, atmosphere, and a sense of a “special time of year”
My list could go on. Heaps and heaps of reasons to be thankful. It’s sad that we likely spend more days wanting than thanking. Building lists of the things we want, the places we hope to go, all the longings unfulfilled as of yet. And so often, we fail to stop and be thankful. To think of all the things we have, the places we’ve been, the longings long satisfied.
I guess this is all part of that living for tomorrow, rather than living in the moment.
So yesterday we enjoyed the company of our friends, relaxed much, watched the Lions lose (a tradition I grew up with in Michigan – the Lions always play on Thanksgiving day), put on the first Christmas music of the season, ate some great food, and found ourselves up until 1 am sharing stories with our friends. It was wonderful to talk into the late of hours of the night and on into those of the early morning.
Not so wonderful when the kids woke us up at 7am, but hey, be thankful, right? Thankful that we have those beautiful mugs there to wake us.
Thanksgiving 2009 was a wonderful day for the Wilsons. And now begins that special season of the year. One I’ve always loved. Not the Black Friday shopping, mega toy buying, over-commercialized, advertisement-busting holiday season, but the Christmas music listening, baked goods making, peppermint tea sipping, Christmas tree topping, hopefully snow fulled days and nights of a 30+day time from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day season. These are the holidays, and they’re a time for family
- for saying “yes” to the kids when you’re tired and they want you to play “just one more game”
- for baking even though you’re a little tired from the day and it means running to the store to pick up something your out of
- for popping on christmas music and snuggling with a loved one on the couch
- for sipping hot tea or cider, or both, one after the other
- for watching the soft glow of twinkling christmas lights, when they’re the only ones on in the whole house
- for reminiscing
- for slowing down, not speeding up
The holiday season is what we make of it. For some, it’s the black friday shopping frenzy, and for others, it’s a chance to put the breaks on after a long year… to attempt to do the impossible, to make time actually slow down, to still the seconds hand on the clock, if but for a few moments.
This season has always been my favorite. With marriage and kids, I have been greatly tested though. I baked more when I was single, I relaxed more during this time, listened to more Christmas music, it just seemed to be… more. Kids brought a new understanding of the word “tired” into the lives of Melodia and I. And so, in truth, we’re somewhat battling to get back to those things I mentioned above, to find a way to slow down during this season, without falling asleep, to appreciate and to teach our kids to appreciate all the wonders that this time of year can bring, in the hope that they, too, will grow to love these 30+ days for more reasons than a simple count-down to a single, present-opening day, that in and of itself is over way too fast, passing just too quickly, and doesn’t seem to balance with the many days leading up to it.
It’s too teach them that Christmas is not a single day, but a time, a season – and that it’s not about one day, but many. It’s not about that final moment, a present-opening frenzy, but about all the journey leading up to and threw it. It is our chance to rekindle our love as a family, to make the time to do things together, to journey this season together, to re-glue the bonds that connect us all.
I love this season, it is (or can be) the most special time of all. So let the Christmas music begin, the snow fall, the heat in the house be turned up (maybe with a fireplace crackling), our time with our family be more consciously chosen, focused, showcased, and let us enjoy each day as we travel from Thanksgiving to the first day of a New Year.
Happy Holidays to all of you.
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