It rained hard in Seattle during the last 48 hours. Water gushed from leaf-filled gutters splattering the skylights above my bed, and at 2:00am when my brain played tricks on me, I secretly wondered if the wind would throw an evergreen branch though the glass and pin me to the bed.

Yesterday, as my family filed in my front door on the rainiest, wettest, darkest and dreariest Thanksgiving Day in years, they brought into my home a flood of warmth, light, laughter and the offering of food. We all crammed around our dining room table—in-laws and out-laws alike—and I couldn’t help but feel proud to be part of such a remarkable tribe of people. We have the usual mix of goofy invitees: A grandpa who never grew up, a loved one with a broken arm, lanky and awkward teenagers with attitudes, and college age kids who think they have the whole world figured out. That big mass of personalities crammed into my kitchen and around my dining room table, filling my house with love.

This morning I woke to stillness after the constant noise of rain and the bustle of a people-filled house. My husband was sleeping next to me, quietly snoring off the last of our Thanksgiving feast, and somewhere near my ankles was our obese tabby cat, Charlie, keeping watch over our home.

I knew that downstairs our house was a wreck of dirty dishes, and that our furniture was moved to all the wrong places. After being fed too many table scraps, our dog barfed on the carpet sometime in the middle of the night, and I was certain the red wine stains wouldn’t come out of my grandmother’s tablecloth.

But from my bedroom window, I saw the sunshine sparkling on a patio garden that my girlfriend so lovingly tended while Jon was at work. I gazed at the hen house Jon built that is full of my son’s beloved birds, and the swing that hangs between two fir trees where my children first learned about gravity.

I was deeply thankful…for the life I have, and for the people I love.

Who are you thankful for today? What brings light into your life, casting away the darkness that sometimes creeps into our days? I dare you to write them down. List ALL the things that bring light into your life and I’ll bet that when you finally put your pen down, you will have a smile on your face.

Peace to you. Kristin