Thankful

And just. like. that. our fun Thanksgiving weekend is over.  The boys left yesterday after church and arrived back to their campuses safely.  Olivia is pretty unmotivated to head back to school this morning after her week long break and I feel her pain…I don’t want her to go back either.  Ha Ha  But, then again, getting back to our normal routine isn’t a bad thing and we get to see the boys again this weekend so we shouldn’t complain!

Our long holiday weekend consisted of a lot of this…

Although it was pretty tempting to stay in bed, we did manage to make it out of the house to celebrate Thanksgiving with good friends and the dear folks at the rescue mission…

Once again, there was magic in the air at the SBRM annual Thanksgiving feast…magic in the form of unconditional love, a strong sense of community and light-hearted fun.  The kids helped set the mood with their music in the courtyard with a varied playlist of classic rock ‘n roll, contemporary country, worship songs and what turned into impromptu sing-a-longs…at one point, the homeless guests waiting in line for lunch started singing along to the kids’ rendition of “Stand By Me” and it was a fun moment for the guests and residents and staff hanging out together.  Here’s a little sample of their sound…

I was sitting with one of the residents in the recovery program and we were handing out new socks to the homeless guests as they left the dining room after lunch.  One of the guests came up with one hand carrying a to-go box of food and his other hand was holding up his pants…he fumbled a bit trying to grab the socks we were offering him while not letting go of his pants or dropping his container of food.  The resident next to me said “Hey man, you need a belt?” to which the guest responded “Yeah man”.  Without a second thought, the resident stood up and took off his belt and handed it to the guest.  At first, the guest resisted saying “Oh, nah man!” but the resident insisted, “Take it man, it’s okay”.  The guest put his things down, quickly put the belt on and picked up his food and socks and some toiletries that were also being given away with a big smile of gratitude on his face.  My description doesn’t do it justice…but it was so powerful.  I just sat there quietly, watching this precious interaction unfold and selfishly soaking up the magic that filled the day.  So good!

I guess it can go without saying that is was also a weekend filled with much emotion.  My emotions are constantly just under the surface and it doesn’t take much to make me sob…I know it’s not a comfortable space for most to share with me but the reality is it’s hard to control once the tears start and it’s where I’m at…it’s honest.  Have you noticed how honesty can hurt so, so deeply and often requires effort to be worked through but is always infused with movement, life, transformation and the power to draw us closer?  There’s a gift to be excavated in those moments for sure.

So, the Christmas season is officially here and we look forward to an even longer break with the boys in just about 3 weeks!  Woo Hoo…the countdown is ON!  Happy Belated Thanksgiving dear friends…Thankful for you.