Thanksgiving. Just hearing it conjures up so many memories, emotions, sights, and smells. If your family is like our family everybody has "their dish" to bring to the Thanksgiving feast. You know, the one dish you are "known" for. For my Nannie it was green salad. Lime jello salad made in a green plastic, round mold. Yumm! It was always my favorite growing up. Since Nannie went to be with Jesus I was honored to be given her green, plastic mold....everyone knew it was my favorite "Nannie dish" (that and her hot tamales!). So, now, it is my turn to bring green salad to Thanksgiving every year. Gladly! This year is no exception. But, this year is different.
As I was shopping for the ingredients I was reminded of Nannie, her laugh, her smell, her hugs. It's always a little emotional and sentimental for me. But as I walked the aisles of the grocery store yesterday, I couldn't help but think about Nannie, an important part of my Thanksgiving's in the past as well as our Ethiopian daughter, who will be an important part of my Thanksgiving's in the future.
Thanksgiving. Feast. It almost hurts to write. I am so, so thankful for the journey we are on. I am thankful for what and how this journey is teaching me. I am so thankful for four great, healthy kids who love laughter and cuddle time. I am ever so grateful for a loving husband, one that I never have to worry about how he feels about me. What blessings! I am thankful for those caring for our daughter in Ethiopia today. For her birth family and the love they most certainly have for her. I am thankful God has "birthed" in us expanding our family this way. So, so thankful. I am thankful that yesterday I was able to buy crisp, new hot pink sheets and put them on the new mattress on the bottom bunk in the "girls" room. Thankful that I was able to get those sheets because my heart missed her and wanted to feel like I was doing something for her. It was so special for me to put those sheets on her bed and dream about tucking her in one day. Thankful.
Feast. That's where it gets hard. I am continuing to pray as Regan prays that "my sister will feel full today." I want to go into Thanksgiving so grateful for the provisions for us, for the ability we have to be with family and to have the abundance. But, I also want to go into it mindful of the billions all over the globe who have never seen a feast, much less had the opportunity to partake in one. I am so thankful that one day, our beloved Ethiopian daughter will know a Thanksgiving feast when she sees it. One day.
So for now, I will be honored to be the one known for making the green salad. My kids will grow up thinking that was "my" recipe. I will be teaching my girls to make green salad before you know it! In the meantime, I will look at those pink sheets and pray. Looking forward to a Thanksgiving when I can tuck my newest daughter into her very own bed.
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