It is the Sunday following Thanksgiving, and lets just say, the holiday didn’t quite go as planned. This year we hosted Thanksgiving at our home. I love hosting holidays in our own home. As much as others complain about being busy, I love the hustle and constant movement during the holiday season. The added bonus- it was little Miss Jordyn’s first Thanksgiving! 🙂 As we had planned from the beginning of November, we would host Thanksgiving, and my husband’s sister and her boyfriend were going to spend thanksgiving week with us. In addition to having them in town, we were also expecting four of our close friends here in Montana to join us for dinner.

Well, two days before Thanksgiving, my husband’s sister found out she would have to work on Sunday. So instead of staying from Wednesday to the following Wednesday, she would stay from Wednesday to Saturday. They were planning to drive from California so they would need to leave early in the morning, a day in advance, to make it back in time. Although we were pretty bummed their visit would be cut short, we were happy we would get to see them at all. Fast forward about 3 hours later, and not only did she have to work on Sunday, she had to be in town for rehearsal on Saturday. Which means, they would have left California in the wee morning hours on Wednesday morning, gotten to Montana Wednesday evening, spent all of Thanksgiving Day with us, only to have to go to bed early to get up in the wee morning hours on Friday to drive back to California, and make it there in time to sleep for a few seconds before heading into work on Saturday. As much as my husband and I wanted to be with them for Thanksgiving, we knew expecting them to deal with a ridiculous driving schedule just to spend one day here in Montana with us, wasn’t fair or safe for that matter. I felt really bad for my husband all night on Tuesday and all day on Wednesday, because I know how much he loves his sister, how much he misses her, and how long he had been looking forward to seeing her for Thanksgiving. Then, to add one more change into the regularly scheduled program, by the time I had finished last-minute shopping for Thanksgiving necessities on Wednesday evening, my husband informed me that one of our friends were not joining us because he had to work as well. In the span of about 16 hours our Thanksgiving guest count had gone from 8 people to 5 people.

All I could think about was how much I would need to change in the amount of food being prepared, and the table set up I had already planned in my head. Then I was quickly reminded of how The Lord works in mysterious ways. Apparently, some parts of Montana were encountering some pretty bad weather, and the Montana Highway Patrol were advising people not to travel on the roads in such terrible conditions if not necessary. In the midst of all my prepping, cleaning, and maintaining a little one, I also realized I no longer needed to set up an additional table, make another centerpiece, or rearrange the dining room area. All five of us would be able to fit at our dining room table, and I actually had a few less things to make me crazy over the next few hours.

Once our few guests arrived for dinner, with their side dishes and desserts, we took our seats, prayed over the food, and proceeded to eat until we couldn’t eat anymore. After dinner, we hung out on the couch watching football games, playing video games, and cracking each other up in the process. One of Jordyn’s BFFs (Amelia) even came over to hang out after her and her Mom had finished their Thanksgiving meal with their family.

I say all of this, because this year I learned (for the hundredth time) that my plans will always be trumped by His plans. Thanksgiving may not have gone how we originally planned it to, but we knew Kris’ sister and her boyfriend were safe at home not battling dangerous snow storms. We also didn’t mind not having as much work to do in the kitchen and in preparation for the day either (haha).  Even with all of the changes we had an amazing Thanksgiving, with even more amazing friends that are our family away from home.

I believe everything happens for a reason. This Thanksgiving taught me a very valuable lesson about life in general. When things seem to fall apart or are not working as I had originally planned..

Give Thanks Anyway.

 

 

Brie <3

[11.30.14]