Who blogs on Thanksgiving??

So I had an interesting discussion with the kids at bedtime tonight.  Mark was out with the guys so it was just me getting everyone settled.  Hannah was having a slumber party in the boys room and as I was tucking them in, Eli started asking how different people in the Bible died and at some point landed on Peter and Paul which got us to the topic of persecution.  I was a little wary of having this conversation right at bed time, especially with Hannah who can get a little fearful, so I tried to steer away just a bit but as we were winding it down I could see the wheels were still spinning.  "Is Peru safe, Mama?"  says a sweet little voice.  "Did we choose a safe place to go?"  I started to answer with the easy reassurances.  "Well, Peru doesn't really have the kinds of persecution that Peter and Paul had or that some other places around the world have.  There are different kinds of persecution..."  Thankfully I caught myself somewhere in there and remembered to give her something more concrete:  "Well, what do you mean by safe, Hannah?  Where are we safe?"  And my 4 year old, who sits and takes everything in and almost never answers such questions, jumps in almost before it was out of my mouth, "With Jesus, Hannah!" he says.  "We have to stay with Jesus!"  And Hannah looks at him and Eli looks at him and I look at him...And then I watch 3 little children settle into their pillows with smiles on their faces and hearts fully confident in the One who knows things that even a Mommy can't and my heart is full too.  Thanksgiving was very different here today - none of the usual traditions of home - but God gave me this treasured moment of reassurance that we are with Him, exactly where we are supposed to be.  We are so thankful for y'all and for our sweet Hannah who turned 8 this week!

Hannah with Grandaddy Waters

Always smiling

Never afraid to get dirty!

A million memories with her sweet friend Mary Rushton - this
was their first day of pre-K

Silly times with her cousin

Ready to go!

Happy 8th Birthday Hannah!!!

And Happy Thanksgiving to all of you that we miss so much - we hope it was wonderful!