40 Years

It doesn't seem that long ago, that Thanksgiving spent at the Holiday Inn on Padre Island, TX.  But it was almost a lifetime ago:  40 years!  We had had an eventful few months:  the birth of our beautiful baby boy, college graduation and commissioning into the United States Army, a move to San Antonio, emergency surgery for appendicitis.  So we thought we'd venture south for a few days of R&R...thus Thanksgiving, just the three of us, miles and miles away from family and friends.  It was fun, though, and we spent those days letting John recuperate and heal from his surgery.  We found a nice hotel buffet and had our turkey and all the trimmings...and took some pictures on the beach with our 4 month old son. 

Fast forward a few years to 2011:  we are all together at that now-40-year-old son's house, celebrating Thanksgiving with him and his wife and baby along with our daughter who flew in from Nashville.  It is warm...warm enough for shirt sleeves!...in sunny Florida.  We have had a wonderful visit, cooking and eating together, grilling out, seeing the sights, eating out, taking walks, shopping, going to the ocean.  It just didn't seem possible to me, though, that 40 years had passed since that Thanksgiving in 1971.

Yes, time is getting by; times are changing.  We are aging.  Our children are grown and doing well in their lives and careers.  We have so much for which to be thankful.  There is not enough space to even begin listing our blessings.  But we ARE grateful...for life, for health, for family, friends, faith, and provision.  We are blessed with memories, heritage, roots...We are enjoying our time with our adult children and precious little grandson.  Our memories are warm, the present is great; the future is promising. 

So, as we reminisce, as we look forward, we look up and say, "Thank you, Lord.  Thank you for loving us and giving us the promise of life everlasting if we just trust in You.  Thank you so much for all you are and all you do and for never leaving us alone.  You are the love of our lives, and we trust you for all we are and everything we have."

It's doubtful we'll be here 40 years from now, but perhaps our children will stop and reminisce about that fun Thanksgiving in 2011 when we all gathered in Ft Walton Beach, FL and spent that week together.  If history repeats itself, it won't seem possible to them, that 40 years have passed!  They'll be in the twilight of their lives, and that little grandson will be over 40 years old himself! Seems impossile, incredible...but just the way it is, as time goes by :)