Thankful

We took some time away from checking on the status of the few remaining states last night and had our daughter and son-in-law over for dinner. It was a late birthday dinner for Hannah.

I was doing dishes after they left and mentioned to Chris how thankful I am that our kids have turned out to be pretty wonderful adults and have also managed to pick pretty wonderful spouses. 

We had a very enjoyable evening just visiting over dinner and for quite awhile afterwards. Although part of the conversation was about the election and the pandemic, for the most part the evening was a respite from the worries of the world. It was a time of just hanging out with the kids.

I've only noticed a few people doing the daily thankful-for posts on Facebook this year during the month of November. I haven't been participating in that and probably won't, but that doesn't mean that I don't have plenty of things for which I am truly thankful. My daily quiet time and added hours of pandemic solitude have given me many hours of reflection on the blessings of my life (including added hours of solitude!).

I know that there are a number of you that are struggling with how to handle typically large family gatherings for this year's Thanksgiving celebration. I have no advice for you other than to be thoughtful as you make those decisions and encourage everyone to be graceful as they recognize their thoughts and feelings might be different than others. That gracefulness in differences is something I'm working on.

Be well.
Be thankful.
Be gracious.

John