Happy Thanksgiving ...

I hope you all are having a wonderful day spent with family, reflecting on how you've been blessed this year and all you have to give thanks for.

I've been trying to think of how best to describe and show Ethan what Thanksgiving is about. It's hard for a four year old who has been abundantly blessed with so much to have any kind of perspective on how thankful he really should be. He hasn't ever known any different. We've talked about the Pilgrims and their voyage to America. How they showed great courage, perseverance and faith as they settled this land (thank you Dennis Rainey for those words I heard on the radio this week). We also did an "ABC's" of thankfulness this morning as a family thinking of something for every letter (and some had many more) that we are thankful for ... but I still wasn't sure that was enough ...

So, as Ethan was working on Thanksgiving projects this week, my mind and heart were still searching for something to help him better understand the concept of being thankful ...




And then on Sunday, a woman at church spoke about her connection with the ministry, Compassion International. It's a ministry I've heard of many times and had recently been reading about on another blog, The Pioneer Woman, as the father and two daughters traveled with the organization. They got to meet the children they sponsor and see the impact their financial giving was making. Having all of this fresh on mind, it hit me on Monday morning that sponsoring a child that we picked as a family (maybe the same age as Ethan) would be an excellent teaching opportunity. So today that is what we will do.

I hope you all had a wonderful day filled with love and laughter from family and friends and took time to give thanks for all that you have.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Love, Me, Matt & Our Little Turkey