Not Your Typical Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has come and gone and our Thanksgiving looked a little different this year.

While many families were gathered together around a traditional Thanksgiving meal enjoying turkey and all the fixings my family was scattered and I was in Mexico at a wedding!

I was sad to be away from my immediate family but glad to have Annabelle at my side along with some extended family. We had the privilege of witnessing the marriage of my nephew Levi to his lovely bride Kelsey.

The wedding was beautiful. The bride was gorgeous and the bridesmaids too, the setting with the brilliant blue ocean and towering palms blowing in the breeze, the decor, the handsome groom and groomsmen, everybody sun kissed and dressed in their Sunday best, it all looked sensational…and then the storm rolled in.

Nothing like a thundershower to ruin your wedding day…but you know what…it didn’t! Nobody let the storm beat them down but they figured out plan B and weathered it together and by the time it came to the I do’s and the big kiss, the storm had blown over and the skies were blue.

You see, what really made this wedding beautiful was the expression of love by all who had gathered, listening to the vows, the love expressed for one another, the prayers and their faith in God, the speeches, the support and encouragement from the family and friends. A marriage should be about love and commitment…even when not everything goes according to plan.

Witnessing this wedding and it being Thanksgiving, it made me reflect on my abundance of blessings…the marriage I have, our kids and the love that surrounds us, for my faith and my family and my friends, and the encouragement and support we experience. There are good times and bad times, peaks and valleys, but focusing on my blessings gives me deep joy and with the grace of God we are able to weather life’s storms together…and thankfully, once again, Bill and the kids survived without me.