Thanksgiving . . .

I'm sure many of you have read several blogs today that dedicated their posts to being grateful and thankful. Well, I'm not gonna go against the trend. :)

While life is not always as easy as I'd like it to be, nor do I always get what I want, I still decide to be grateful for what I have been given and content in my circumstances. And yes, it is a conscious decision, not something that always comes naturally or easily. I choose to be grateful because there is no reason not to be. I have so much more than I deserve – in family and friends as well as material things. I try to remember to thank God each day for what He has blessed me with. I never want to take any of it for granted.

I hope that each of you reading this post will (or already have) take a moment to be still and reflect on how you have been given. I bet you'll be filled with gratitude, too. :)

For the first time in years, we did not spend Thanksgiving with any of our family. That is, blood family. Instead, we were invited to the home of one of the members of the Pickers music group that I play with. Kathy and her husband, Mike, have a lovely, serene home next door to the Plantation.

It sits on 10 acres which house two horses; a peacock and peahen; five turkeys, several goats and guineas, and a few dogs.

Mike & Kathy exude godly hospitality – when they built their home, it was their desire for it to be a place of refuge for anyone who entered. And it certainly is. There is a peace that is almost palpable in their home. The picture below sums up Mike & Kathy perfectly.

We felt honored to be part of their Thanksgiving celebration. Along with us were Dick & Pat, Ron & Ruth, Gayle & Bob (Gayle partners with Kathy in music and a horse tack accessories business), and some family members. As is the case at most dinners where everyone brings a dish to share, there was plenty of good food.

Everyone mixed and mingled well.

After dinner, we all took a walk around the ranch grounds. Mike & Kathy have recently cleared much of their ten acres so that Gayle & Kathy would have more trails on which to ride their horses. Once we got back to the house, Gayle, Kathy, Ruth, Pat, and I played music for the next hour and a half while the guys chatted and listened.

What a wonderful day we had! Thanks again, Mike & Kathy for opening your home to us.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!