The assignment: (A) share at least 3 "Bountiful Blessings" the Lord has abundantly provided, (B) share your Thanksgiving feast, and (C) post a Scripture that reminds you of your blessings.

The Blessings: a devoted husband, 2 delightful and fun-loving children that God allowed us to adopt, the privelege of staying home with those children and being able to build relationships with them through all the time we spend together, an awesome community of supportive friends, a great home, opportunities to share God's love with those around me, good health and the grace to get through those days when I don't feel 100%, and many more things than I can think to name!

Thanksgiving Feast: Since we (like many families these days) don't live anywhere near the families we grew up with, we sometimes travel about 12 hours for a Thanksgiving feast with family, and some years we enjoy the holiday with friends in our community. Last year we shared a delightful day with close friends. I can't really remember all the food - of course, there was turkey and green beans and potatoes and pumpkin pie. But what I remember most was the fellowship. Three or more hours passed like a moment as we sat and conversed with our friends after dinner. One day we'll spend our eternity side by side with these friends, and maybe that will seem like enough.

This year I may make a new dessert instead of/in addition to the traditional pumpkin pie - Cranberry Cream Pie.

Everyone needs a new idea for those turkey leftovers, right? I ran across this recipe for Williamsburg Old-Fashioned Turkey Soup recently, and it's a winner! If you make the recipe as written, you'll have a lot of soup (probably 7 quarts), and I use a lot more diced turkey than the recipe calls for. Another trick I use with this recipe is to puree the cooked onion/carrot/celery mixture before adding to the soup. (Then my kids don't ask "What's that? Do I have to eat it?" and they still get the veggies!)

Scripture: "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."

Titus 3:4-7

Now that's Amazing Grace!