Friends – November is upon us. It goes like this. Halloween just wrapped. The jack-o-lanterns are molding over. And the outside plants are going to the wayside. Even if you plant kale or spinach or mums. It’s all questionable. LEGO and Target send the catalogs. You trace a hand for a turkey decoration on the fridge, and inside you start to panic. The cards, the gifts, the homework, basketball or indoor soccer, the travel, the traffic, the time change. It’s November 1st and all we can think about is January 1st.
It’s imperfect. It’s rushing. It’s traffic. It’s online orders and door packages, and how many Hallmark films can we watch on Friday night. The thing is, if just for one sentence, one thought, one breath, one prayer, we give thanks, it is, above all else, the month of Thanksgiving.
It’s glorious. It’s laughter. It’s family, friends, and friends that are family. It’s Manhattan’s, and pearled onions, and stuffing. It’s burnt orange, gold, and brown. It’s daylight at 4pm or 6am, but not on the same day. It’s the Patriots, Bengals, Texans, Rams, and always Purple Friday. It’s just magic. And it’s not easy, because it’s the magic we don’t make in red and green, but the magic we find at a table in late November, giving thanks.
There is a funny land in social media, and in eleven years that I have been participating in it, there is always a month of thankfulness. Some years, I have skipped, some years, I only last ten days, some years, I go all in. This year, I am all in. I won’t blog here daily, but I will post on social media daily, so you can follow along there, or get a weekly recap here. Either way, may you be encouraged to give a daily thanks.
First up, I am so thankful for tradition. It’s a word with deep roots in my world. We have a month to explore some of them.
Dear Reader, I am so thankful for you. Thank you for always showing up. Let’s, you and I, give some thanks together.
xoxoxo, AT