The Ultimate Thanksgiving

I woke up early this morning, probably because I zonked out on the couch last night before 10:00. After church last night, we decided to have a family movie night and we all bunched up in the living room to watch the new Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian, movie. I barely made it through the first 30-minutes before my eye lids started to get heavy. Strange for me since I normally stay up until 1:30 or 2:00 every night...

Anyways, like I said, I was up early this morning with Thanksgiving thoughts on my mind. Today we will be going to my parent's house where around 20-people will cram into their small home to eat a large feast. We will have all of the traditional dishes, turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, sweet potato casserole, etc... and of course tons of desserts. There will be enough food to feed David and all of his army. I am really looking forward to it.

If you are a regular reader of Tug's Life then you know that I started a new healthier lifestyle a couple of months ago. I'm proud to say that I have lost 25-lbs thus far. I feel better physically (and mentally) than I have in years. Needless to say, I'm throwing the healthy eating habits out the window for today and am planning on eating to my heart's content. Hopefully I won't completely blow things and go on an eating binge after this!

I've said before that Thanksgiving has always been my mother's favorite holiday. She loves to have the family all together and she loves to cook. Of course when you are the greatest cook in all of East, TN, then naturally you want to showcase your talents. It's funny though, every year a couple of months before Thanksgiving, we will be discussing the menu and we always say that we are going to cook less this year. We honestly believe that at the time we are saying it but it never does happen. When it comes to crunch time, we give in and start cooking like there is no tomorrow. Since my youngest sister, Jennifer, lives in Arkansas, and my older sister, Pam, passed away 5-years ago, it is up to my mother and my wife to cook all of the food. Mary has been preparing for the past 2-days. The broccoli casserole is in the fridge and waiting to be stuck into the oven for baking. The deviled eggs are also in the fridge begging me to eat them. A big strawberry trifle is basking in it's juices just waiting to be sampled. While I am typing this, she is whipping up a batch of Chex Mix for a get-together we are having tomorrow night. I might have to sample it (like I did the chocolate fudge) just to make sure it is fit for serving! ;)

Lots of people watch the Macy's Thanksgiving parade today. I honestly don't care anything about it. I am more into the whole family togetherness thing and the eating thing. We had a special service last night at church where everybody stood up and told what they are thankful for. It was a very touching time. My sister, Jennifer, is in from Arkansas and she sang 2 special songs last night. The first one was, 'I Have Been Blessed,' and the second one was, 'I Stand Amazed In the Presence.' Everyone in the whole church was crying like babies, including me. I sure do have a lot to be thankful for. God has blessed me more than anyone I know. Some people base their blessings on things like money, fancy cars, nice clothes, etc... not me, I base mine on knowing that I have a loving family, a home to live in, a job to provide income so that I can buy groceries, and that everyone in my family has accepted Christ and has eternal security. One of these days we will be celebrating the ultimate Thanksgiving when we are gathered around God's throne and he invites us to his supper table. My what a time that's gonna be!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!