Thankful Hearts

I have not written on my blog in such a long time. I am sort of ashamed because this is my passion and I have not been able to enjoy the things I love as much lately because of the constant busyness of my life. This thanksgiving is super exciting for the Urbizo household but at the same time I share a bit of emptiness in my heart. Scott and I are cooking our first thanksgiving tomorrow for 12 people! We spent all day today preparing the sweet potato casserole, squash casserole, brining the turkey, baking the pecan pie, and chocolate pound cake AND I am proud to say everything is homemade! After 4 hours cooking away, I couldn't stand my itch to decorate for Christmas any longer. So, my patient husband went to the storage room and dug out all 12 boxes of Christmas decorations. We hung all the wreaths, the garland, and even made it to the Christmas tree farm to pick up our tree. Needless to say my house looks like I am torn between thanksgiving and Christmas. I have my turkey decorations right next to my tree decorations. In the mix of all the hustle and bustle today I probably called my mom about 25 times. I never realized how much went into preparing a meal. Honestly I thought How hard could it really be? Well let me tell you something IT IS HARD! I am unbelievably tired and my muscles are even sore! No one told me cooking was a workout! I could have skipped my morning run!

I am so thankful though to have my mother to call on when I need help. I tell her all the time I hope the good Lord will take us together because I don't think I could get by with daily living without her. I am very thankful that I have a wonderful, patient husband that even though I make life very difficult sometimes he just smiles and knows how to deal with my insanity. I told him last week that one day if we can ever afford it I would love to have a house with 3-4 dining rooms because I want to be able to invite all the homeless over for dinner on the Holidays. Most people would think I am crazy but he knows me well enough to know I am being serious! So with those calm brown eyes he looked at me and said we will have to pray about that one dear! I am very thankful for my Dad, who just 6 weeks ago had a total knee replacement and is here visiting me this week. He is the epitome of the IRON MAN! He is already back into working out again and he even went hiking with us this past week. I am very thankful for my little 13 year old sister. There is nothing like a bond between two sisters. Finally, this past year she is getting to the point where she wants to talk to me and tell me she loves me! For that I am very thankful. I am thankful for all my in-laws (including sisters and brothers) who make me laugh every time we are together and who love me for me! I am thankful for all my friends, and my small group family! Last but most importantly I am thankful that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for my sins and that he loves me unconditionally for all my flaws that the human eye can't look past.

As we head into the Holiday season I pray that you all remember what this season is truly about and share in the memories with your family. I encourage you to give to someone who is in need and not to focus on just you.

I have a great story of this in my own life of how material things just fade away. I had begged Scott for about a week for this green table that cost about $150.00. To most of you this probably does not seem like much but for our one income family it is a lot to spend at one time. Scott realized how much I really WANTED this table and surprised me one day when he got home from work with it! I was so excited. I put it into its place and decorated it a bit. I couldn't get my eyes off of it for the rest of the night. BUT you know what? The next day when life started to happen again I forgot about that little green table. The void it had filled the night before had diminished and I was now thinking of the next THING that would look good in our house. Material things will never satisfy that empty feeling in your heart. It took me awhile to learn this but only God can fill that void. I began to pray that God would take the material thoughts out of my mind and sure enough I started paying more attention to my relationships that God was providing around me and less to the material things of this world. The truth is we can't take anything in our houses, none of our cars, and none of our clothes with us when we go to heaven. You will recognize the people you have loved here on earth. SO with this thanksgiving spend more time with the people you love and less time with the things you love. Happy Thanksgiving!