I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart!

I was stressed out yesterday.  I was hosting Thanksgiving, and I had a cold, and on top of that, I'd been out of town for the previous 4 days.  I didn't really feel up to all the preparations - the cleaning, the cooking, the decorating.  But most of all, I didn't feel capable.  My Mom, my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law - all of the women who would be coming to my house, they all know how to put on a serious shindig.  They all have lots of decorations, lots of style and boy do they know how to make a party special!  I felt seriously inadequate.

God kept whispering to me, though, that I needed to be content with what I do have and that a warm welcome means more to my guests than gorgeous decor does.

The kids enjoyed their meal . . .

. . . and so did the adults!  Look at my Mom smiling, at my mother-in-law enjoying herself!  My Mom brought that leaf garland and my mother-in-law loaned me the white tablecloth.

Alif & Graham set up a really cute candle display inside the fireplace, and it made things so cozy.  We adults sat around the table and played Phase 10, ate pie (and more pie), laughed loudly and finally, after we sent our guests into the chilly night . . .

. . . we rested.