turkey day

all 11 of us were home today, which is rare. with kids at college, work, or married it's not often that we are all at the house at one time. but today we got to be together. all of us. and to make things even better our cousins came in. In the past we have gone to New York to spend time with the martin's side (tom's side) of the family-it's crazy. there are 320498 little kids running around and it's so hard to keep up with who is who (i know i probably sound like a bad relative but to give myself credit-1) i've only been introduced to them at most 2-3 times. 2) Tom has 10 other siblings and each of them have 1-7 kids so it gets hard trying to remember who is who.) but anyways we're usually there for thanksgiving. every year the kids try to find something we like to eat but always end up eating bagel bites. it's become a tradition when we go up there now. as much as i love going to NY, seeing the family, catching up i really loved being able to relax and stay home. we ran together in the drumstick dash, cooked like crazy, and had close family with us for dinner. it was great.

 i love my family. as crazy and dysfunctional we are sometimes. it's the best. we took our christmas card picture today-i can't imagine how funny we looked trying to figure out where to stand. it probably took us 10 mins to set up. i'm so thankful for my family, who they are individually but also together. the quote we have in house says "we may not have it all together, but together we have it all." and its so perfect for us. becuase no matter how crazy our lives get or how stressed out we become we always have each other and thats really all we need.
it was a good thanksgiving. food was great (my fam knows how to cook!), convos were awesome, and i wouldn't have wanted to spend my time any different.
today i'm reminded how blessed i am. some things i'm thankful for:
the Lord.
the cross
my family-even if tsome of them are are step-they're as close as any of my biological fam.
scipture
laughter
fellowship/deep and genuine convos(real talk)
food, water, shelter, bed. things i take for granted all the time.
younglife/wyldlife-having the opportunity to share christ with others.
who christ is/what he did for us
who i am in christ
having a close relationship with my family. so thankful for how they care for/love me.

the lord is so good. and all of my thankfulness (is that a word?) goes to Him. thanksgiving is a day that reminds me to be grateful for what i have been given. to look at all the blessings i have recieved. today with a grateful heart i am humbled by how much i have been given. but why is it just today that i feel this way? what would it look like if i was this thankful for what i have everyday?