Spirit of Gratitude

Thanksgiving Day brings to mind some great memories; having the family all together and my mom making everything from scratch. She made mincemeat and rhubarb pies for my dad and pumpkin for the rest of us. We peeled potatoes together and helped with the gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, peas, rolls, fruit salad and cranberry sauce. I loved setting the table with her beautiful white table cloth, china, real silverware and the silver goblets. We never had a table big enough for all of us to sit at so we, the four little girls, sat at the card table next to the big table. It also had a table cloth and the fancy dishes. We felt like princesses.  The first Thanksgiving after my mom died was especially hard. We missed her so much and we had a true appreciation of how much work it was for our mom to pull that meal together.  There were so many times that day that we wished she was there to give us pointers while we were cooking, and the empty chair at the head of the table tore at our hearts that day. This year is just my immediate family, my husband and our two sons. We went to Mass together this morning and have started dinner. I can already smell the wonderful turkey. This year we got a special treat, four free tickets to the Cowboys’ game, so we had to make some changes to our meal plan but that’s ok.    

As I reflect on some of the blessings that God has bestowed on me, because of course I don’t even know about all the ways that he has blessed me, I am also thankful for the trials. They have helped me learn more about myself and more about our loving Father. I have learned that I am stronger than I think I am. I have learned to persevere and to cling to Him and not those of this world. And I have grown closer to our Lord, even more so in my trials than when things are going well. And while it is great that our nation sets this day aside to give thanks to God for all of our blessings, every day should be a day of thanksgiving. I pray for a Spirit of gratitude and generosity; that I may be more in tune with all that God does for me and that I am willing to share my blessings with others freely. I was reminded in Mass today that each one of us is on God’s heart and that if He didn’t think about us even for a moment we would no longer exist.  “For in Him we live and move and have our being.”  (Acts 17:28)