Thanksgiving Blessing: The Courage to Try

Here's the Before and After: Do we look fatter in the second one? More content? I'm in a reflective state of mind as my heart--and stomach--are full at this time, at the conclusion of another successful Thanksgiving feast. Maybe it's the tryptophan in the turkey, or maybe it's the rare quiet house. Whatever it is, it's got me thinking.

We cooked up eleven different items to share, and since it was just us this year, we chowed them down as soon as the pictures were taken. Nothing had a chance to get cold and no one had time to get too impatient. Like many people, we have always gone around the table and told about something we were most grateful for that year. Everyone says something material first, as a joke (sort of) and then usually mentions a family member or says family. While my family always tops my list, maybe the thing I am most grateful for this year is the courage to try. I don't always like to step out of my comfort zone, but I have no doubt that the Lord has helped me along and blessed me when I have just made the effort and gotten up the courage to try. The vast many physical comforts I enjoy daily can actually stand in the way sometimes, making life seem easy. Of course they're the things we all see as blessings. I hope I never start to view my blessings as rights or make them seem small and insignificant. I realize I am far more blessed than I deserve to be, and that fills my heart with so much thanks. I just think it's easy for me to reflect on my three healthy beautiful children and loving husband and plentiful clothes and a warm bed and the strong examples of faithful parents in Korea--and forget that these are all blessings I need to work hard to be equal to, not expect them to be there if I don't do my part. Some things in life are scary and hard but they offer an opportunity for growth that cannot come any other way. That's where the courage comes in. I am grateful for goals and willpower, and honestly, for the courage to try to be a better person. I think of the saying, "Be not afraid of going slowly; only be afraid of standing still." Much love to all my family and friends who lift me up with your love. You are my sustenance.
Happy Thanksgiving.