full of thanks

Today was a very different Thanksgiving Day in our house. For the first time I was gone for part of our day... I ran a road race here in town. It was my first race and I loved every minute of it. The race- a 4.7 mile course- is a Thanksgiving morning tradition here in our town and has been for 71 years. It was so exhilarating to be part of something so huge- almost 10,000 participants and about 30,000 spectators.

My goal was to run the entire course and to finish in under an hour. I did both. My amazing, wonderful, supportive and encouraging husband is the one who encouraged me to register and do this thing called "running" officially. He assured me that it would be his pleasure to "hold down the fort" while I was out doing something good for myself. He held true to his promise.

I think (for the first time) I can say I felt the "runner's high"... the overwhelmingly amazing and pleasurable feeling that comes over a runner after running for a certain distance. I felt like I could have kept on running. My body felt as if it were a well-oiled machine- each muscle working in perfect synchronicity with each other, my frame- a powerful and erect tower. It felt good to feel so strong.

We had a splendid meal at my parents' house and had the pleasure of watching the long-awaited "First Thanksgiving" performance put on my Sophia, Nicolas and their cousin. My mother read the story as the children acted it out. They each had a few lines,

but my favorite was when Nicolas appeared on the scene as a Native American and beat his chest with each syllable as he said, "My-name-is-Sam-o-sett".

Precious.

Our family is rare, and blessed, in that we get to joy of spending Thanksgiving with both of our families. Mike's Mom, Dad and nieces join us from New Hampshire at my parents' house every year to share our day.

We had an amazing day and I truly feel so thankful for the blessings of family, healthful foods, bright children, a strong marriage, healthy family and the freedom to speak the name of Jesus.