I'm thankful for my family

The night before Thanksgiving, Mark and I went to church with my family.

The service was dedicated to celebrating God's goodness, and a microphone was passed around the congregation to give attendees the opportunity to share how He had blessed them over the past year.

We heard stories of physical healing and financial provision. People talked about ways they had grown spiritually and gave thanks for people in their lives who had come to know Christ.

Some talked about brain surgeries. Others about unemployment. Still others gave thanks for overseas missions and new babies and good preaching.

And then the microphone disappeared into the hands of a little boy.

His blond head barely reached above the top of the pew, but his tiny voice filled the whole church;

"I'm thankful for my family."

And of all the things I heard that night, this was the most profound.

Because the truth is that most children - most people - in the world cannot be thankful for family because they. don't. have. one.

I've always taken it for granted that every baby was born with the right of a family. That, in fact, every new baby was entitled to a nurturing mother, a providing father, and four doting, over-the-moon grandparents. Not to mention a host of aunts, uncles, and cousins.

However, the reality is that it is rare - even here in America - for a child to grow up in a home with both a mother and a father to love him. And when I look around the world, I see that children with just one healthy, providing parent or caregiver are more than fortunate.

I think God put the microphone in the hands of that small boy to remind me of all of this.

"I'm thankful for my family."

Such a simple phrase, but those five words tell of some of life's most precious privileges.

It is indeed a privilege to be a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, a wife, a cousin, and an aunt.

And when I remember that not everyone in this broken world has been given these blessings, it truly makes me so, so thankful for my family too.