Thankful.

I am so thankful for my freedoms. I sat alone early Thanksgiving morning and pondered what my life would have been like if I did "something else" with it. It is so funny that the words "something else" just mean that..something other than what I had done.

I giggled out loud at that moment and decided that what I was most thankful for were my freedoms. Freedom to choose, freedom to worship God openly, freedom to kiss my beautiful children every night, freedom to speak about whatever I am thinking, freedom to love mankind, freedom to go to school, freedom to work, freedom to eat, freedom to dream, to drive, write, walk, believe, cry and laugh....

I do frequently recap the major events and sometimes the not so major events in my life from time to time and for me, it brings back a memory that I might have missed in my earlier years.

On Wednesday night, Josh and the kids and I went to the Wednesday night service at church. It was a Thanksgiving uplift service and it was nice to go mid-week for a change. After the service we drove home and quietly I began playing back my childhood Thanksgiving Eve memories. The one that I can really remember is my mom always cooked a turkey in a brown paper bag. She never used spices or fancy tools..just a brown paper bag. She would set the oven for 200 degrees and the bird would cook all night. Thanksgiving morning the aroma was divine and taunted my taste buds from sunrise!

It is always a blessing when family can congregate together to enjoy each other's company and especially nice over the "holidays".

This year we got to enjoy lunch with Charlsie, our grandmother on Josh's side. She cooked the entire meal and it was wonderful. It was the first time since we have lived in Texas that Charlsie was with us on Thanksgiving Day. I know that she really enjoyed treating us and being the hostess. After most of the party enjoyed the A&M/UT game (house divided..none the less exciting) HookEM (by default) :)

Friday, we spent with Mema and Papa Kennington at Aunt KK and Tim's. I love love love to be around the Power family. Also, Mema and Papa were in from Longview and it had been quite some time since we had all been together.

I am grateful for the rest of our family who are all long distance from San Antonio to Arizona and back to VA. In some form or fashion, we all make a great effort to be with each other during the year and I am so grateful for that also.

This week is going to be jam packed. I am thoroughly excited about Josh's final interview (oral review board) with Sugar Land PD on December 2nd. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we move through this next transition.

I am blessed.