thanksgiving thanks

The Thanksgiving service at our church is incredibly unique. In lieu of the sermon on Sunday people in the church could share one item they were thankful for and put an object to symbolize it into the cornocopia at the front of the church. This year I brought the ultrasound photo where we saw Drew's face for the first time.



Here is what I shared with the church... anyone who has been keeping up with the blog for a while will know some of this but here is a shortened version... and for anyone from church, maybe here you can understand what I was trying to say since my choked up voice was out of control... :)

I'm thankful for not getting what I thought was best for me. During the entire pregnancy with Drew I was scared about how this would change our lives. Would it be as people told me it would be? Would I never get to sit and read a book again? Was I going to be exhausted for the next 18 years? Would I just be defined as Jen the Mom instead of just Jen?



I didn't know if being a mom was really for me... I thought pretty much everyone else on the planet (except for the stars of Teen Mom) would be better at it than I. I never baby-sat and kids always liked my sister better than they liked me.


But then we had Drew nearly a year ago and I've realized that God knew what was best for me... he knew being a mom would require endless amount of self sacrifice, something that hasn't been easy to learn, but something that has been so GOOD. And He knew that Drew would make our marriage stronger because AJ and I would be forced to communicate about every little detail. When Drew turned six months I began to stay at home full time with him and the Lord is teaching me that I'm not defined by my career or bringing home a regular paycheck (this, friends, is a hard lesson to learn that I struggle with daily).


I'm so thankful for a God who wants the best for us and will put us in hard situations that we don't necessarily want to be in because He knows how life-giving and fulfilling they will be for us in the long run (even if it's hard to see in the beginning). And I'm so thankful for AJ and the sweet, and incredibly energetic, little boy who are teaching me that God knows best ALL THE TIME.
 
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! What are YOU thankful for this day?