Today I am happy because…

I’m happy because…
Actually I don’t think I have a particular reason to be happy today.

Is it because tomorrow is Thanksgiving? Is it because this morning I started humming There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays? Probably not. Today daughter Becca left to visit daughter Annie in Colorado. Daughter Rachel and son-in-law Adrian are far away in Georgia. No other family members are flying in to share the holiday.

Perhaps I am happy because Advent begins in a few days. Anticipation for the season grows for everyone as decorations and music of the approaching Christmas greet us at every store and on every radio station. Holiday parties are being planned at work and school. Shopping, shopping, shopping takes off like a rocket on Black Friday. Retailers pray for a good bottom line to make their year. Families gather from near and far, beginning at Thanksgiving all the way through to Christmas.

This year for Christmas, family here will be the two of us and Becca.

There’s no place like home for the holidays. This week my parents moved from the house they’ve lived in for fifty-six years. We are moving soon from the prettiest house we’ve ever lived in, since 1999.

Home. In these transient times, home just can’t be translated into the place where a family abides. Home truly is where the heart is. The heart of family. The heart that swells with joy because of that family. The heart that overflows with love because family is God’s design for His people.

Yes, there’s no place like home for the holidays. My home, my heart, overflows with thanksgiving for the amazing family God has given me.

I guess I do have a reason to be happy after all.

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