Thankful for a Legacy

Well it's over. Just like that.

It seems we have been waiting for Thanksgiving for so long, and now, it is gone. I love this holiday.

I can't stop thinking about it. We had a lovely week. One of the best I can remember. (Except we didn't take any pictures). It was just what our family needed. We had very few responsibilities or obligations. I took an extra day off teaching and our children had three days off of school. My husband was around for most of it and we even got some snow. 

I helped my mom with Thanksgiving dinner. It is one of my most favorite things to do. I watched her in awe as she orchestrated the preparations perfectly. The end result, the best tasting Thanksgiving ever. Her gravy can't be beat. More than that, my mom can make every situation full of love, warmth, and welcoming. 

As we worked together in the kitchen my mind was filled with memories of my grandmother. My mom's mom. She passed away a few years ago. The three of us used to spend hours in the kitchen, talking, cooking, preparing. They are the women in my life I look to for all things. They are the examples that I strive to emulate. I missed her extra this Thanksgiving. I am grateful for the legacy she built and that my mom carries on that legacy. 

I just finished checking on our children in bed. All three are asleep. For them I am grateful. So grateful that words don't do justice and thinking about it puts a lump in my throat that I can't swallow. 

They are the greatest thing that will ever happened to my husband and me. As their mother, I am humbled to think that the Lord has entrusted me with their care. 

Wasn't it just yesterday that I was dreaming about being a mom? Dreaming about what it would be like to be pregnant, nurse a child, teach ABC's, and teach the stories of Jesus. Now, in the blink of an eye I am here. 

As I pushed the hair out of our sleeping daughters face tonight, it hit me, she will continue this legacy. She is already dreaming of being a mommy and marrying her prince. Before I know it, both our daughters will be married and having their own children.

This Thanksgiving season I was overwhelmed with gratitude because I am a part of this legacy. A legacy of women who give all for their families and who take the role of mother seriously. Women who are strong, confident, patient, loving and intelligent. Women who have sacrificed all they have to teach and nurture and love. Women like my grandmothers and my mother. 

My grandma used to have a stool in her kitchen. I would sit on the stool and watch her and my mom work, cook and fold laundry. Last month the stool got a new home, my kitchen. Now my daughters sit on it and watch me work and cook. I hope I am teaching them just like I was taught. I hope I am living up to the legacy that has come before me. I hope I am teaching our daughters by word and deed that this legacy is worth sacrificing for. 

I am thankful this Thanksgiving for my role as a women.