Thankful for holiday breaks...

that slow down the pace of regular life, that give a different focus to your days, and that afford a concentration of family time.

We're trying to take advantage of these holiday break days by doing more of the irregular--sleeping in even though it's not Thursday. Watching family movies and special history shows that I have been saving up for these lazier days. Baking and cooking special treats and desserts that did not come out of the box but have the phrase "made from scratch" attached to them.

This different focus reminds me to slow down and enjoy what these days currently are that will not always be. One day I'll be waiting for a boy to get home from college instead of just waiting for him to come down the stairs.

The concentration of family time involves our extended family. Though they live closer now to us than they ever have, the hours spend with them now involve the energy of the holidays. Whispered plans about gifts and surprises are a part of our conversation. Ideas and schemes about family pranks run not just through the children but also through the adults, big children themselves.

Holiday breaks are a gift. Shame on us for when we treat them as stresses or burdens. Participating in the Month of Thankfulness that Rebecca Writes has so graciously hosted has greatly changed my mind in how I want to treat this time of Thanksgiving. Majoring on the simple and simplifying the complicated has given me a more particular heart of thankfulness for how God above all has blessed our family.

I am thankful for this holiday break.