This Thanksgiving, I’d prefer to gather with extended family around an overloaded table.

But instead I’ll be grateful for the food and little people right before my face.

This Christmas, I’d love to celebrate at parties and school programs and all the normal Christmas-time festivities.

But instead I’ll find joy in making merry with the precious faces right here in our own home.

This isn’t the first time life seems so much different than the perfect picture I've created in my head.

But I do know God is here. I know He is with me. And I know He loves this broken world and ALL the people in it.

So, I will choose to be grateful for simple blessings.

I will seek a little joy in every day.

And I will trust with my whole heart in His perfect plan for my life.

Because I KNOW whatever the circumstances,

It will truly be beautiful.

This holiday I’ll be finding beauty in the ordinary moments...

Right here at home.