HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

This is my favorite time of the year. The holidays are beginning. The excitement of time with family, cooking large meals and enjoying the love we all share is near at hand. This year we have Evan's parents here and his sister and foster son are joining us on Friday as well. We sort of are planning to have 2 Thanksgiving meals -- a smaller one with just the 7 of us and then one on Saturday once Erika and Derrel have arrived. That will be our main celebration. The thing I'm looking forward to the most, I think, is reading our big, long chain of things we are thankful for. That has been one of the best activities for our family. It has forced us to think about the details of the things that we take for granted on a regular basis. I think even the garbage man made the list!

Our church recently sent out a team to Uganda to do some mission work. What an amazing experience they had over there. Maybe someday Evan & I can do something like that. The people there have nothing according to our standards -- not even clean water. I just cried as I heard the testimonies Sunday. We have no idea HOW MUCH we have to be thankful for living here in America. The team did talk about how Jesus just radiated off the faces of those over there who love him. He is everything they have. We are now trying to raise money as a church to dig a well, in one of the war-torn areas over there, where they don't have clean water. If they just had clean water, so much of their suffering wouldn't exist. Clean water! It's so easy living in America to lose our focus off from Christ because we have so much around us to distract us from Him. But, imagine, if He was literally ALL we had, how different we would view Him. My Savior is the ONE thing I am most thankful for! He is our hope!

We are so blessed as a nation. Enjoy this holiday season with your families and friends, and remember, God is good...all the time!