Redefined

I wasn’t ready. Uprooting and relocating is one thing, but completely redefining how you celebrate the holidays is another.  I didn’t know what to expect.  I wasn’t grieving, but I wasn’t ready to do anything different.

I tried to avoid Thanksgiving at home.  At first we attempted a trip to Houston, then a trip to New Orleans.  Work called and both fell through.  I was forced to redefine our first holiday.

We came up with nothing spectacular, fried the turkey, cooked all of the normal sides, and made my grandmother’s famous chocolate meringue. We pulled out some of our favorite games and tested our Disney movie knowledge, laughed around the table and talked about this and that.

Looking back, I think God wanted us to redefine a few things.  He’s been doing that since we arrived.  I think he wanted us to stop the busy and the planning.  He wanted us to slow down and refocus on our family.  A trip would have been fun, but we would have been distracted by all of the sites to see.  I would have been stressed by all of the planning it would have entailed.  God knows.  He sees.  We needed time as a family, without all of the bells and whistles, so here is where we had to be.