.:a tradition:.

Thursday, 11.25.2010, was Thanksgiving..just incase some of you forgot..

We have a tradition:
Back when the pilgrims first came to America, they didn't have very much food so they lived on 5 kernals of corn a day..in memory of this hard time in their life, and to help us realize how grateful we should be....

We stand in a circle with all of our friends and family that are around for Thanksgiving and we each get 5 kernals of corn...then we go around the circle and each say 3 things we are grateful for (5 takes a little to long when you have 20+ people over)

This Thanksgiving i had something very special to be thankful for...
My dad and his brother haven't gotten along since before i was born.
Because of stupid misunderstandings, they never talked,
They hated each other because of things about my dad that my uncle had gotten the impression of when they were still young.
Things that were completely unrealistic..
Because of these things,
We didn't talk to my uncle or his family(hardly)..
And they didn't talk to us.

However this year something changed.
My uncle and grandpa had gotten into a fight a few months ago..
My dad intervened because it was getting out of control..
Accusations that were just out of this world were being flung around between my uncle and grandpa, all because grandpa is old and slowly losing his memory..
Finally it all came out between my uncle and my dad..
And to their astonishment..the things that had been haunting their relationship for their whole lives were completely false!
All the impressions my uncle had of my dad.. that we were ripping of my grandpa and had gotten our land because grandpa didn't know the difference etc..CRAZY STUFF!!!

After hours of talking, they got EVERYTHING worked out..
This is a miracle.
I have three cousins that i haven't spent more than 10 minutes with because of this family grudge..
This Thanksgiving i was given one of the greatest blessings of all..
I spent all of thanksgiving with my Uncle, his wife, and 2 of my 3 cousins.

So this thanksgiving God blessed me.
As we went around the table saying what we were thankful for,
it started with my dad..
Dad: Family, Freedom, and being there with all of us.
Me: ALL of the family that was there, freedom, and Faith
Alissa: Family, Freedom, Beautiful place to live
Matt: Family, Friends, Food :P
[then it came to my little cousin: Jacob]
I want you to understand something. My cousin Jacob turned 5 in October..He shouldn't have been 5 till January.
Jacob was born 3 1/2 months early. He died a few times..has been on air his whole life till this year.. couldn't go out in public for fear of getting sick and dying.. as it came to Jacob, he didn't hesitate.. nobody had to explain what we were doing...
Jacob: "I'm thankful for all of us being here together." [a beautiful blessing and miracle]
Then it was Luke's turn.. Luke is 8 years old..but a very smart little guy..
Luke: "i'm thankful for family, food, and for Jacob being here because he died 2 times and he is still here and is not on a breathing machine" [WOW!! what an amazing LOVE]
Uncle Joe: Jacob not being on a breathing machine
Kak: Not having to worry about Jacob getting sick from us, and all of us being together as a family...
Mom:...well lets just say she went over her limit of 3...but i know she said family and freedom:)

So this year.. even though my brother-in-law wasn't here.. i had so much to be grateful for at thanksgiving dinner..

I have been blessed with a beautiful family and i finally got to know all of them a little bit better..God is amazing.. and he works in crazy ways:)