And more thanks.

”My mom has been through and difficult year and more and we are thankful that this Thanksgiving, Thelma (that's the title the two parents gave her) is much stronger, alert and active than she was early last spring.”

Such good news to hear how much better your mom is recently. Thelma’s older sister – my mom – has had a rough go of it this past year too, but all things considered, she’s doing pretty good now.

Not to get too carried away with old news, but there’s a story in my family…

Apparently, our grandparents had some difficulty deciding on a name for your mom. They asked my mom, who was three or four at the time, what her little sister’s name should be. Mom replied in a soft voice, “Velma”, the name of her best friend at the time. Our grandparents thought she said Thelma…

So I’ve been told, anyway.

”We have two great kids and this summer added a son-in-law to the mix. We thank God for them all.I'm more in love with my bride than ever before and it's glorious!”

Mike, you have a truly neat family. Quality, that’s the word. Your wife is one of the kindest people I’ve met. You’ve all given me and my family great hospitality every time we’ve gotten together. Not to mention a great deal of fun.

”We go to a church where the pastor preaches the Sovereign God of Heaven, the beauty of His Word and the grace He imparts to His people.”

Outstanding. Grace really is the key to it all. Now, we Lutherans might phrase it a bit different, something along the lines of preaching law and gospel; the gospel of Christ the redeemer, centered on the cross and the empty tomb. (Interesting how I’m thinking of the passion season while we’re sitting here in the beginning of Advent.)

At our church we’re thankful this year for our new Director of Christian Education. He’s really gotten the youth involved – high school And college (!) - to the point where we’ve gone from four or five “die-hards” attending to where they’ve outgrown the old youth room, moved, and are about to fill their new quarters. Church kids bringing friends, outreach actually happening…we are blessed.

”Some of the folks from our church went with our family to distribute Thanksgiving meals to convenience store clerks who had to work on Thanksgiving. The stores are located near our church and I can say the employees were happy to get the food, but I am thankful for the happiness in my heart as a result of being a part of that effort.”

What a great idea!

We had a great thanksgiving. Our second daughter came home from Missouri State, then our first daughter, son-in-law, and cute, sweet, one year old granddaughter came from California to stay for a few days. On Thanksgiving day itself, we had both sets of parents over to our house. We all were thankful for and enjoyed great food.

The out of town kids stayed for most of the weekend. Board games were played, good conversations took place, and we got to hold our grandbaby.

Did I mention she’s sweet and cute?

Yes, we’re blessed more than we’re usually aware. And come to think of it, things did go pretty much according to plan.