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Seven hours, two books and one Mediterranean restaurant detour after we left Des Moines last Tuesday, my husband and I finally made it home to be with family for Thanksgiving. Coming home is always a treat, but the older I get, the sweeter each trip becomes.

It’s been years since we moved away, and high school feels like another life … but when I drive through my old stomping grounds, the distant memories remind me of the person I used to be, and the amazing work God has done in my life.

I am not who I once was. Hallelujah. Amen. Thank you, Jesus. I am being made new every day. And so are you.

If there ever was a place in my hometown that restored my soul the most, it’d have to be the high school swimming pool. I was born a swimmer, and I’ll die a swimmer (God willing, of course). I love the water and everything about the sport — what it did for me and what it can do for others. That’s why every time we go home to Indiana, I try to stop by the pool. So last Wednesday morning, while most of the world remained sound asleep, I woke up to swim in the lanes I once raced in.

I always expect to see acquaintances at the pool, but last week, I ran into an old friend. Someone I hadn’t talked to in years. Someone who used to be a very close friend. Someone I wondered if I’d ever see again.

As we caught up, I thought about high school … about who we used to be and who we are today. Though our lives look completely different now, and we’ve gone our separate ways, I realized that we still have so much in common.

We both loved our families. We’re both pursuing our passions. We both want what’s best for this world and everyone living on it. We’re both just trying to do the best we can in life. And that’s a beautiful thing.

You see, no matter how different we are, we all have something in common. Our hearts long for similar things: abundant life, love, joy and happiness. And beyond that, no matter where we are in life, we are loved by the same Father — a Father who relentlessly pursues us and beckons us to believe in and follow after Him.

God is doing a work in all of our lives.

I know this, but I’m deeply reminded of it when I come home, as I mentioned earlier in this post. And here’s the thing: He is doing a work whether we believe in Him or not. Why? Because He loves us. He loves the Christian. He loves the non-Christian. He loves us all the same.

We Can Trust God, Because God Is Always At Work

When I was in high school, I couldn’t see God at work in my life. I often felt aimless and hopeless. Sometimes I wondered if God was even there. Did He care? Was He listening to me? Would He rescue me?Read More

I could hear my sister and my cousin plotting as we ran up the stairs to get ready for our annual Christmas Eve play.

“Hey! You guys always get to be Mary … but I want to be Mary this year!” I yelled as I followed closely behind them.

My sister turned around just in time to catch a glimpse of my puppy dog eyes.

“Oh fine,” she replied. “I’ll be the shepherd.”

We spent the next 10 minutes dividing the remaining roles and preparing for our big curtain call. Then it was lights, camera, action. Time for the grandkids to act out the story of the birth of Jesus for the whole family to see. And for a grand finale, my gramma would bring out the “Happy Birthday Jesus” cake, thoughtfully topped with one candle to signify our one and only Savior’s birth.

Before any talk of presents. Before the hot chocolate and gingerbread cookies. Before the caroling music. Before anything else, Christmas was and forever will be about Jesus in my family. And although traditions have changed somewhat since we were kids (we don’t do the play anymore, we just read the Bible instead) some traditions stay the same, like our treasured Jesus cake.

When I was growing up, it was pretty common for teachers to ask students to share their holiday traditions with the class. And while I used to be embarrassed to talk about the Jesus cake, today I’m proud of the unique tradition. In fact, it’s become one of my most favorite things about Christmas.

Last year, my husband and I couldn’t make it to my gramma’s Christmas Eve celebration, so I asked her to send me a picture of the cake in my absence. There’s something about preparing a cake for and singing to my Savior that brings me so much joy.

There are so many reasons not to choose joy during the holiday season, and if we don’t keep our focus on the reason for the season, we end up focusing on the wrong things — things that fill us with sadness and sorrow.

Things like not having enough money to buy everyone the presents you wanted to buy them. Things like not having the prettiest outfit to show off to all your family members. Things like not feeling beautiful enough to be in family photos. Things like that diagnosis you just received. Things like that boy who just broke your heart and left you dateless. Things like that friend that just stopped calling.

Please join me over at the Raising an Arrow blog to read the rest of this post, which I wrote for Leigh Ellen’s holiday traditions series!

Does your family have any traditions that help you remember the true reason for the season? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below.

Eight days. A little more than one week. That’s all we have until it’s time to stuff the turkey, mash the sweet potatoes, whip up the pumpkin pie and prepare our hearts and our homes for Thanksgiving.

It’s true, gratitude is not reserved for just one day of the year. And yet, there’s something about this time of year that brings the practice of gratitude front and center. That’s why today I’ve decided to compile nine of my favorite inspirational quotes about thanksgiving — quotes that make us stop, think and start to appreciate more about the beautiful life we’ve been given.

The best part about this post? The images are yours to enjoy. All you have to do is click to download, print and use them in whatever way your heart desires. {Linking back to laurengaskillinspires.com is appreciated!}

I love this quote because even though it’s not directly about thanksgiving, it’s about something that I am so incredibly grateful for — the perfect love of our heavenly Father. It is a love that goes beyond what we can ever comprehend. It is a love that drives out all fear (1 John 4:18). It is a love that knows no end (Pslam 36:5).

Charles Spurgeon once said “I think that is a better thing than thanksgiving: thanks-living. How is this to be done? By a general cheerfulness of manner, by an obedience to the command of Him by whose mercy we live, by a perpetual, constant delighting of ourselves in the Lord, and by a submission of our desires to His will.” Because I couldn’t fit all of that on a quote graphic, I paraphrased it here for an easier way to remember the essence of what Charles is saying: Let us be more than thanks givers. Let us be thanks livers!

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