Things We’re Thankful For

We enjoyed a relaxed family day yesterday. I thanked the Lord more than once for keeping our day empty of surprises.

It was a lot of fun working together in the kitchen. The whole family had something to do; though, Seth and Walter’s jobs mostly involved eating what the rest of us were making.

We decided to do a 3:30 meal so that we could avoid a late evening of cleanup. The duck was in the oven all day and came out perfectly. We also had mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, caramelized carrots, broccoli-rice casserole, dressing, and ham rolls. Steph and the girls also made apple and pumpkin pies.

After we ate, we listened to the children share their mildly bizarre renditions of the Pilgrims and Indians. Then we talked about all that God has done for us this past year. It was good to reflect on what we’ve come through and to see God shining through faithfully.

Water was the big thing everyone was thankful for. We remembered how many times we did without water for a time and rejoiced that things are much better now.

The children were thankful for various animals that had gotten sick but revived. It can be hard to rescue sick animals here, but we’re grateful for when we can.

It was somewhat surprising to consider that last Thanksgiving we had no goats, and now we have about thirty. We talked about how God provides for our needs through the goats. And someone mentioned about the friends who have adopted goats and how that is a gift. 🧡

There was a cheer around the table when someone said they were thankful Covid restrictions were ending. The children are thrilled to be able to see more than our house in a given week. We were also thankful we didn’t get sick.

And someone said they were thankful Dane didn’t die the other night during the thunderstorm “because the lightning could have come in the open window! Couldn’t it?!”

One of the final things mentioned was how excited everyone is that God is giving us twin girls in a few months! 😊 Of course, we don’t know if God plans to give us twins or girls yet, but that’s how the children have been praying every night since we learned we are expecting. We are all eager for next June when the birth should happen.

We gave the remainder of our duck and some portions of other things to Percy to take home for supper. We still have a nice amount of leftovers for today, but it was fun to share with them. Percy messaged me later last night and said the meal was que rico–so delicious!

We recently read Psalm 100 in family devotions. Abbey said we should have saved it for Thanksgiving Day. That’s a good idea, but Steph reminded us that every day should be a day of thanks. That is not a platitude. God is so good and kind and generous toward us.

We are forever grateful.