Friday, November 25, 2011

"the DNA of joy is thankfulness"

Happy Thanksgiving from the Kumps!

Stephen and I both enjoyed the day as much as possible given the circumstances.

My parents, Nate and I went to two Thanksgiving meals:

Lunch with my mom's extended family:



And dinner with the Kumps:


Stephen got to drive (or at least sit on) a local "car" in between his two Thanksgiving meals and a trip to the mall:


We have so much to be grateful for, not only this year for Thanksgiving, but every single day. Topping the charts right now:
--That we are separated for our first year of holidays in marriage. I am grateful to not know what we're missing out on by not being together.
--That our families love each other so much. It is so sweet to have one big family, especially this year. I am sure logistics will get more and more complicated as the years go by, but what a blessing it was to have both our families together for the holiday! It is such an undeserved, unearned, gracious gift of God that our families love us and each other so well. Thank you, Mommy and Daddy, Mom and Dad, for taking such good care of us!

The Lord gave me this prayer a few years ago along with a little melody to keep it lodged in my heart. It was perfect for yesterday, a day of celebration that was mixed with sadness.

Let Your love be enough for me
Show my heart You're my only need
Let Your truth abolish every lie
Let Your love saturate my life

"Contentment celebrates grace. The contented heart is satisfied with the Giver and is therefore freed from craving the next gift." --Paul Tripp

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