I've been slacking with my blogging duties. I don't know why, except to say that I didn't figure a running commentary on our wonderful week-long staycation would be too intriguing.

Boringness aside, I'll just say that though I've missed seeing my family this Thanksgiving, it has been a pleasure to celebrate in a new and different way! We've been doing a Harry Potter marathon, eating chili, chicken corn chowder and tortilla soup, sausage dip, shrimp cocktail and more. We've been taking walks, hanging out with Benny boy and plotting our Black Friday attack, set to launch in one hour as we storm Wal-Mart at midnight.

We had a great time hanging out with our church family as we ate dinner with the Acevedos and the Metzgers. We learned a new game (Telephone Pictionary) that transformed simple phrases like "It's the most wonderful time of the year" into "The devil made me dance in front of a dung pile." Lots of poop and musical notes made their way into the game, but we laughed and enjoyed the evening with new friends.

So, as Thanksgiving winds to a close, I'm thankful for new experiences. Even though this Thanksgiving looks vastly different than ones I'm used to, I'm thankful. I'm thankful for new friends, for our church family, for our blood family, and for tasty food. I'm thankful for our dog who makes us laugh constantly. I'm thankful for quiet, foggy nights on the porch with my man. I'm immensely thankful for my husband. He is the best thing, aside from Jesus, in my life. I'm thankful for Jesus. He is the best thing. Period.

I hope you've had time to reflect on the goodness of God today, both his goodness in your life and his goodness to all people. The gospel is what today is about - being thankful for that which we didn't deserve, but were given anyway. We're reminded today (as we should be all the time) of God's goodness to us in giving us a renewed and restored relationship with him. I am thankful for the gospel. As much as I love food, I recognize that Thanksgiving is not about food, or pilgrims, or family, or fun, so much as it is about giving thanks and glad tidings and worshiping the One who makes all things possible and who gives us blessings abundant.

Happy Thanksgiving!