Tea For The Thankful

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I woke up this morning with a head full of today, I have to's, Reader, and it was a little while before the mental checklist was exhausted and I sat down to really consider what this Thanksgiving Day represents. 

It's not about the ingredient list I've been compiling, the recipes neatly ordered on the kitchen counter, or the last minute trips to the grocery store. It's also not about having a free morning to sleep in, stopping to shoot some photos for the blog or fiddling with a few tablescape ideas for an upcoming post, though I enjoy all of these things. Today is not about the financial wrinkles that always seem to pop up and mess with my budget this time of year. And yet, these are the things on which I spent the morning. I spent it with the I need to get's... and the if only I had's...

Fortunately, after doing all that, I also went up to my cozy study corner and pulled out my devotional bible reading for the week. We're studying the Book of Ruth right now. If you don't know Ruth, Reader, you should. Out of loyalty to a woman who can offer her nothing, Ruth chooses to leave her home, her family and her country to enter a land where she expects to be despised and unprotected. A fascinating journey with a surprise ending--I won't spoil it for you, if you haven't read it. Ruth's courage and faith got me thinking about all the things I sometimes take for granted, all that God has blessed me with through each season of life. 

It seems so effortless to invite friends over for tea and reminisce about all the great memories we share--to be thankful for the friendships and adventures we have in common. So, why is it so much harder to put down our lists of what I need to fix next... and acknowledge that everything we are and have and dream about originated somewhere other than in us? Everything we would point to that makes up who we are, was not created by us. This leads to some questions then. Who did create all these things? Why? Did they have a plan in mind? Is there an inherent design in who I am? And other great questions.

I believe our lives are actually about how we choose to answer such questions. So, on this Thanksgiving Day of November, 2013, I am thankful for the reminder that my priorities and concerns are not what my life is really about. I am thankful for a purpose bigger than my understanding and for the fact I occupy a place in a design that is too big, too intricate for me to comprehend (the design, not my place in it). I am so thankful my life isn't really about me. How small that would be!

Just a few thoughts on gratitude today, Reader. In fact, gratitude would make a delightful tea party theme. It wouldn't matter if the table were set or the serving pieces coordinated or even if you just put out a simple scone and a pot of your favorite steaming, old faithful brew. (Less is definitely more!) Just sit down to articulate out loud what the treasures are in your modern girl life--recognize them and say thank you. You just might find you already possess the exact right amount of enough.

Thou hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, - a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.
~George Herbert

   

Thanksgiving Quotes courtesy of the Quote Garden.