pardon the interruption: a thanksgiving tradition

Happy Thanksgiving!  I host Thanksgiving at my house every year, and I'm tired!  We just finished our 5 blessings, the kitchen is cleaned up and all the leftovers are tucked snuggling into the fridge.  In about an hour we will enjoy a nice piece of pie . . . or two . . . or as my dad says, "I'll start off with French Silk move on to Pecan and finish it off with Pumpkin!"  Before I give my blog space over to Sarah from Sweat Pea and JoJo, I want to share with you one of our Thanksgiving traditions called 5 blessings.  


After I've set the table, I place five pieces of "corn" on each plate – some years it has been candy corn, some years real corn kernels and some years corn nuts.  (This year I actually passed this job off to my oldest daughter.  I'm pretty sure she ate most of the candy corn because when we finally got around to the 5 blessings after the meal, each person only had two to four pieces on their plate.) 


When our bellies are comfortably full and the plates have been pushed away from the edge of the table, we go around the table thanking God for the blessings we have been given throughout the past year.  As we say one blessing, we eat a candy corn . . . one by one until we've gone around the table five times and everyone has shared five thanksgivings.  We've done this tradition since I was little and my mom hosted Thanksgiving.  Now that I host my parents, grandparents and in-laws every year at my house, we've continued it to remind ourselves of the many blessings in our lives.


I'm telling you all this today because YOU ALL were one of my blessings.  Here's what a shared with my family around the table:


My blessings are . . .
1)  My children that have grown and developed and experienced new things this year and my husband.


2)  My job and a steady income when so many are struggling.


3)  My oldest daughter's medical miracle from early this year.  She was born with a malformation of the tubes that connect her kidneys and bladder.   She's been on daily meds for years and was looking forward to a life full of surgeries every two years.  After only two surgeries, she was given a clean bill of health.  A total answer to prayer.


4)  Creativity . . . and my blog, those who read it and the friends I've made through it.  THAT'S YOU!


5)  Well, truth be told . . . we didn't get to five this year because my grandparents are with us.  Their memories are fading, and they thought we had already done five when we had really only done four, and they had repeated one and two already.  Rather, than point it out to them, we just stopped after four.


But I've experienced so many blessings this year, so if I had said a number 5, I would have said that I'm thankful for my parents who are an amazing source of love and encouragement to me.  This year they have been so faithful in making the longish drive to our home to see us.  What a blessing!


Alright . . . that's my five.  Thanks . . . thanks for playing an important role in my life this past year . . . encouraging me in this creative journey I've been on.  Thanks for helping me find a part of myself that was buried down deep beneath my roles of mom, wife, friend, daughter, etc. 


What are your blessings?  Can you name five?


Tradition on!