...for family and friends on Thanksgiving Day 2010
Last Sunday night Charlie and I celebrated Thanksgiving with friends at Broadway Baptist Church. The annual meal, followed by a time of worship and the Lord's Supper around the tables, is a tradition we long remember from our first Thanksgiving in Fort Worth thirty years ago. Our church families at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas and at Broadway are blessings beyond words. For this, we give bountiful thanks.
We give thanks for all the Shapards today too. Our family's practice of celebrating Thanksgiving has evolved as we have moved from place to place and added family members by marriage and birth. The addition of three beautiful daughters-in-law and five grandchildren adds to the joy of being together when we can be. Whether we're together or scattered, giving thanks is first and foremost on our minds.
This year we are going to Rob and Rochelle's in north Dallas. They moved back to Texas in May after living in Pennsylvania for a decade. Jacob, a senior at Penn State, is home for the week. We haven't seen him since summer so we're all the more excited about going. Rob is running in the Dallas 10K Turkey Trot this morning - brrrrrr!!! Cold front came in around dawn, and we have had a 30 degree drop in temperature already. Probably won't bother the "northern" branch of our family!
Scott, Allison, Jack and Elizabeth are hosting Allison's family in Fort Worth. Her parents will be here from Tyler, along with her brother and sister and their families. This year's gathering is particularly precious because Allison's mom will be having surgery at MD Anderson soon. Our heartfelt prayers seem so inadequate but faith offers hope for complete healing. May their home be filled with laughter and love this day.
Tommy, Rachel, Drew and Kate are in Tallahassee at Rachel's mom's. The whole bunch will be up bright and early with four toddlers in the house. We can only imagine the great meal that will be prepared. Rachel and her mom are wonderful cooks - "from scratch" kind of cooks. No, I don't feel guilty...not one bit! We hear there's a significant football game on Saturday afternoon. Good luck, FSU!!
Thank you, friends and family, for being the precious presence in our lives that sustains us each and every day. Wherever this day finds you, give thanks and rejoice in love!
