Thankful...

I hope that the readers of this blog read Greg's too. He has so much to say and the new life they are creating in Malaysia is fascinating, scary, and a huge adventure. I so admire the way Greg and Cheryl and the girls have made this leap of faith. I think I am too chicken to have ever done such a thing.

I sent out the family email the other night to the "All Family" address book group to invite everyone for Thanksgiving, knowing full well several will not be coming. Cheryl was the first to reply that they won't be coming. Boo. 9200 miles isn't that far, is it? And tonight at Grief Support the focus was facing the holidays without a loved one. Stuff like developing new traditions, making sure we don't overcommit, saying "no" to what we can't do, healthy hiding out. I mentioned last year spending our first Thanksgiving without Laurie in Houston...the whole family. It was an awesome time but still we probably missed the mark in really discussing our true feelings. And now this year, a new shuffle. Pete's mom is in an assisted living home trying to get better, our friend Shelly will hopefully be here with us, not sure if Katie will have delivered the babies by then...lots of question marks. Somehow a turkey will be roasted, tables will be set and we will bow our heads and give thanks for all of it.

Tonight we got an urgent prayer request to be praying for a young soldier in Iraq going on a tough 3 day mission, right now. He is the dad of a three year old and a 10 month old. He called his family to say good bye; it looks that bleak. I am praying for him, for them. Our world community needs big prayer. When we give thanks this year, I will be thankful for this young father. We need to remember...