a faith observed: Happy Thanksgiving, Round Two

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving, Round Two

Our Ozzie Thanksgiving dinner was a success! Simon loved his Thanksgiving fare, especially the corn on the cob, chicken, and sweet potato casserole (which he called pumpkin pie)! It was so special to have Erin here to share Thanksgiving with- she leaves tomorrow and we all will miss her so much. Simon has just fallen in love with her and calls her "Ennn". I am really sad just thinking about how much he'll miss her (and how much I will miss her too)! We have all become very attached to the lovely Erin O'Donnell.

What else am I thankful for today? My beautiful family. God has blessed me so much with an amazing husband to share my life with; the most beautiful and affectionate little boy to adore; a new life growing inside of me who we will soon meet; a mother and father who have nurtured and cared and served me and loved me so completely; sisters who are my best friends and who I miss always; nephews and nieces and brothers and sisters-in-law and parents-in-law; grandparents; uncles and aunts and cousins; and friends. I am so completely blessed.

My love goes out to all of my family and friends and best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving. Wish we could be with you all, and you too, Dad. We enjoyed Pure Cream on the pumpkin pie tonight and talked about how much you would have loved the real cream.... "mmmmmm, girls! real cream". I can hear your voice right now. I love you Dad. We all love you so much.

3 comments:

Judith said...: Liz, your dinner sounds and looks fabulous. I wish I could have come over the river and through the woods to your house today. Well, I guess it would have been over the ocean and through the bush!

Thanks for posting new pics. You all look wonderful.

Today I am thankful for your sweet, adoring self. I LOVE YOU!; November 27, 2009 at 4:15 AM
Marge said...: Amazing looking dinner!! And beautiful people around the table. so glad that you had a successful second Thanksgiving celebration. Missed you!!; November 27, 2009 at 5:20 AM
Cass said...: oh, look at everything .... it looks wonderful! and you're tanned for Thanksgiving .... i'll never get used to your 'upside-down' seasons!

we have my brother here from san diego right now so i had a full dinner last night too, as he missed Canadian Thanksgiving last month. yum from all of us! i made a homemade pie too, with yes, real cream!

{i'm thankful for you too!}; November 28, 2009 at 12:09 AM

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This is me, a faith observed.

C.S. Lewis writes about the pain of losing his beloved wife, Joy, in his book, "A Grief Observed". In some ways this is my attempt to share my journey through grief and back into life, as the past nine months have been characterized by an immeasurable longing for my beloved father, who died suddenly this past January.

After months of hibernation from the internet, I unexpectedly find myself able to re-begin this blog and connect with my larger community of family and friends. This blog will likely reflect less of the intensity and depth of my pain and more of the simplicity and ordinary joy that keeps my life full - namely days running after our little boy, Simon Pierre. But it is because of the incredible love and presence that defined my relationship with my father, that I feel I can will myself to not just survive each day but to pour that same kind of love and attention onto Simon.

My father was an endless source of strength to me, a pillar of faith. His last words, spoken to my mother as he passed into that which is unseen, "God is good - good all the time", have remained with me through this dark cloud of grief. And when God seems hidden, when justice seems to be losing out, when life is unfair, and when death swallows up the one I most love, I remember my father's words and breathe in this promise, that the God of love is in the process of restoring that which has been destroyed.

And as my father told me in dream I've had since his death, "Look to Jesus. As a father, to point you towards Him is the best gift I can give to you." So here I am, this is me, a faith to be observed.

I hold onto that which is not always seen- the promise of God's goodness, the hope that one day in the promised new heavens and earth- on a grassy hill or a sand covered beach- the lion and the lamb will lie down side by side and I, too, will lie down side by side, next to my father, and we will laugh and laugh until there are no more tears left to cry.