Happy Thanksgiving 2016

I had grand plans to make a list of 10,000 things I was thankful for that were all different, similar to a few years ago. Or doing something every day like I've done before. But best laid plans don't always go as expected.

This year has been busy and full because we have been so blessed! And none of that happened. We've been given marriage, 7 beautiful, busy and crazy kids, a home, many things to fill our home, jobs, church, family, and friends. God has been good to us and we have so many people and things to be thankful for this year. 

But this month I have realized I have not been a good steward of the blessings that have been given to me. The past 2 1/2 years we've been working to be good stewards of our marriage and to be God honoring in it as we seek to live out the picture of Christ and the church marriage is to be. The past couple of months we have been wrestling with what it looks like to be a good steward of our kids and our home as, after marriage, these are our God given mandates to look after first. Women in particular are called to be homemakers and God is teaching me what this looks like for this season.

Right now I'm showing thanks by getting my home in order and teaching my children as diligently as possible. It is hard but good. This month has been filled with going through all that we've been given and seeking to give to others, organizing so we have order, and cleaning from top to bottom. None of these are my strong points. But I'm learning to die to self and live according to God's Word. God desires Thanksgiving and the sacrifice of self. This is what I'm learning this Thanksgiving. 

We were blessed to spend Thanksgiving with Jim, as he did not have to work this year, and the McMillin family here. We are so blessed to have them in our lives. I'm also learning to be grateful for the people in my life and not take them for granted. I don't know what that looks like all the time, but I'm learning and I know that as I learn to fully give myself to God and His plans that I better love others and am less likely to take them for granted. 

It all goes together. As we love God and are thankful for what He has done for us we love others as we should and become the stewards God has made us to be. May I continue to learn this and grow in it everyday.

What did you learn this Thanksgiving season?