Weekly Update: 11.23.24
Collect for Thanksgiving Day
Most merciful Father, we humbly thank you for all your gifts
so freely bestowed upon us: for life and health and safety, for
strength to work and leisure to rest, for all that is beautiful in
creation and in human life; but above all we thank you for our
spiritual mercies in Christ Jesus our Lord; who with you and the
Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.Book of Common Prayer, 2019
It has begun -- the mundain holiday liturgies of clipping turkey coupons and planning holiday menus. Our grocery list this week is speckled with cranberries and spices. We are adjusting our crammed schedule, squeezing in time for decorating and present making. I don't feel ready, but time doesn't wait for my feelings to move through the annual cycles of fasting and feasting. That is the burden and beauty of the holiday season -- it is something to be assented to.
I can't help thinking that, in seasons of life that feel unusually chaotic, it is all the more important to stop and give thanks. And indeed, we have so much to be thankful for.
This year, we are especially thankful for each other. Over the last couple of months, several family members have been dealing with health issues. After a parade of tests and doctors' appointments, we are thankful that so far, we have had lots of good news -- or at least news that is as good as can be expected. While our dad will have to have surgury in the near future, he is not in imminent danger -- and that is a relief to all of us. Health problems are always scary, and I think we all hug each other a bit tighter these days.
We are thankful for progress. Getting things done on the bunkhouse sometimes feels more like a slow drip than a study flow, but when we look back to where we were a year ago, we have accomplished so much. More than just what is visible, we have learned skills that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives. And we have made memories with one another that are truly precious.
We are thankful for simple joys. We have not chosen an easy lifestyle. We have worked harder these last years than we ever have before. Going without so much has made us all the more thankful for life's little gifts -- quiet evenings with books, steaming mugs of tea, baskets of yarn, furry friends. We have often talked about how our lifestyle has made us appreciate little luxuries of the modern age. Every time I start a load of laundry or use our kitchen sink, I feel absolutely spoiled.
We are thankful for place. Family members have been getting out into the community more, getting involved in church and meeting new people. My nieces just started 4H, and I'm so excited for the fellowship they are going to have over wholesome activities. The more we get to know our area, the more we love this place and the people who belong to it.
Reflecting on all of our reasons for gratitude, so much of it comes down to being thankful for home. The place and the life we are building in it together has been such a blessing. While we have dreamed and planned and worked for it, we know that we would never have arrived here without God's guidance and help. Even when times are hard, we can feel God's presence with us, inviting us to lean into difficulty, practice perserverence, and grow. As I reflect over the last year, it is hard to see it as anything other than grace upone grace, each day a new gift that God freely bestows on us.
