In just 24 hours my house will be filled with the most amazing smell of turkey cooking in the oven, the table will be set for guests as a colorful array of autumn beauty and I will eagerly be calling the kids together to sit with me and watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade! This is how Thanksgiving has always been for me growing up and remains to be for me as I raise my family. A tradition I am thankful for and blessed to have.

This morning as I woke, facebook, though the use of posted pics years ago, was quick to remind me of Thanksgiving pasts. In those posts I was reminded of the many years I spent providing Thanksgiving feasts to my students in the classroom. The joy I had sharing my love for the most special holiday. We would dress up as Pilgrims or Native Americans, share the workload and talk about the history of that day. My deepest desire in my heart was to impart on them thankfulness and friendships. We would write what we are thankful for, thank friends around us and be joyful in a wonderful meal we shared together with classmates, parents, teachers and friends that came in to share.

As I looked at those memories this morning there was a little sadness as this is the first Thanksgiving in 22 years that I don’t have students to share this tradition with. But then I had to choose. Am I going to be sad about not having that this year or should I instead choose to be thankful for 21 years of memories and traditions that I was blessed to have and experience. Thankful that memories fill my heart and pictures remind me how truly special it always was. While I may not have my students this year for Thanksgiving traditions, I will have Thanksgiving and tradition with my family. The family around the table has changed through the years and some very special people are missed greatly. Again, I choose to be thankful for the memories of loved ones that once shared this special day with us and thankful for new memories to be made as my children are growing so fast.

THANKSGIVING IS ABOUT BEING THANKFUL! This world is filled with disappointments, failures, sickness and pain….it is also filled with love, joy, friendships and so much more if we CHOOSE to see it!!

While I reflect on Thanksgiving thankfulness I am so urged to continue to be thankful and to encourage others to be thankful for even the smallest thing. Today make your list of thankfulness greater than you list of disappointments. Say thank you to a friend, a loved one, someone helping you at the store or a coworker. A seed of thankfulness is just the start to growing a beautiful flower within oneself and within others. Let the true heart of Thanksgiving be a part of your everyday life and not just a holiday we celebrate in November.

“From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing. I will add to their numbers, and they will not be decreased; I will bring them honor, and they will not be disdained.” Jeremiah 30:19