Where did my "Thankfulness" go?

Every year, around Thanksgiving time, I feel very blessed.  I can easily, without much effort, rattle off a list of people, places, and things I am truly thankful for:  my sweet family, my warm cozy house, my slippers, anything flavored with pumpkin spice...

I am very blessed and very cared for...but something happens to me the minute I start reading the Black Friday ads...my thankfulness disappears and I develop a case of the wants.  I try to dress this condition of greed up by telling myself I will be shopping for others, for Christmas presents, for my sweet family I mentioned earlier, but that is not entirely true.  I like the shopping, the getting, the possessing of material things that are pretty, cool, fun, attractive to my eye.  I struggle with materialism.  I am greedy....and deep down this greed, left unchecked, has the ability to crush my thankfulness. 

My plans were to shop...to buy fun things...to spend money that was better left unspent. 

God's plans were for me to care for my sick family. 

So this year I am thankful for Strep Throat and an ear infection.  Both of these conditions forced me to avoid feeding my greed in an effort to care for my loved ones.  Nothing like illness to produce a sudden realization of the value of health.  Both my husband Jason and my littlest kiddle Joanna were sick on Thanksgiving....Joanna with the ear infection and Jason with the Strep.  Both were miserable...and both needed my care for about two and a half days....about the exact length of the amazing Black Friday Sales.

Even though things didn't go as planned, I still had the opportunity to eat delicious food at my mom and dad's, visit with my FABULOUS in-laws, spend time with my sweet little Lily, watch movies with Jason and hold my baby JoJo for extended periods of time which she normally doesn't allow now that she is a toddler.  All in all Thanksgiving was ok, and I am even more thankful now that my family is healthy again.
 

Lily's turkey hand...love this!