Thankful

     

The old expression is the Third time is a charm.  Let's hope so.  This is the third time I have started today's entry.  Too many of the folks that made the holiday's what they were are gone on to the Master's Table.  All Pete has dwelt on for years is being at deer camp this week.  So, while I'll say it is nothing I look forward to expectantly or get excited about anymore, in my heart I am still thankful. 

 

                

 

Thankful that I know my Lord and Savior and for his Mercy, Grace and Love.

 

Thankful for my grumpy old man.  ;o)  Who wouldn't be grumpy after the year he has had with his health? 

 

Thankful for a smart, handsome son who is kicking and struggling to become his own man.  In many ways he is doing this well.  In others not so well.  But I am proud of him!  So many today don't even seem to try to become their own man, but just coast through these all important years on the coattails of others. 

 

Thankful for a smart, beautiful little girl.  Who is warm and caring.  Artistic and creative.  She takes pride in doing well. 

 

Thankful for our home.  It's not fancy.  It's plain.  It's simple.  It's cluttered and a little dirty.  But it's comfortable.  And it's warm.  It's removed enough from the world to be quiet and peaceful where we are.  Perhaps that is why I have all but lost all interest in the deer camp.  Here I don't need to get away from passing cars and systems blaring.

 

Thankful for my job.  I know some may think I am crazy staying with my part-time job with Pete not working any to speak of this past year.  But I know my job.  I do it fairly well.  The part-time part gives me the flexibility I often need.  And I am able to make enough hours to almost meet our needs money wise.   And for the most part, the people around me there are friendly and kind.  

 

Thankful for caring, kind people along the way.   Because frankly, if it weren't for them sometimes we just wouldn't make it.  Wouldn't have what we had to when we had to.  May God bless them for their kindness! 

 

Thankful for wonderful programs that help, even when people are trying to help themselves.  Chip and Medicaid that have covered my children and kept them healthy.  The Christian Care center in town, who helps so many in so many ways; food, clothes, utilities, getting prescriptions filled.  Thankful for the meals programs in the schools that make sure the kids always have a breakfast or lunch without any thought or worry.  Thankful for AT&T's lifeline program, that provides basic phone service at drastically reduced rates, that no one be without what has become a necessity.  Thankful for a clinic that takes patients on a sliding scale based on income.  Yes, it has it's snags and problems, but getting the cash together to go other places would be a bigger problem.   Thankful for Wal*Mart's $4.00 drug program.  

 

Thankful for extended family and friends.  Sometimes they bring drama into our lives, but life would be rather uneventful without them.

 

Thankful that somehow God always gives me the strength I need for the day.  I never get everything done, but by his grace I get what has to be done and sometimes a little more.  

 

Thankful for Christian friends, sisters in the Lord.  In my church, here online.  You fill me of a sense of a place to fall, so to speak.  A knowledge that there is always someone to turn to, someone to talk to, someone to pray with me.  

 

Many other small things to be thankful for!  A good rain last night.  The touch of a kitten.  Fresh eggs in the yard.  A good sleep.  A warm shower.  Too many to mention.  

 

I work Monday - Wednesday.  Will have a meal at work.  Will go to the camp on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving.  Weather forecast shows it might be a mess, but it'll be our mess and we'll be together.  And there is always home to come back to and get out of the mess. 

 

   

I pray for each of you my friends in J-land, a warm and happy Thanksgiving.  I pray God will open your eyes to the many blessings that surround you.  No matter your circumstance, they are there!  Don't dwell on what you don't have.  What if the pilgrims had done that?  I'm sure there was a long list of things they missed.  Things they had wished were different.  But they gathered together and gave thanks for what they did have!  And as they did so, I'm sure it fueled their hearts with hope for the future.  May yours be fueled as well! 

 

And thanks to Sugar at SugarShackKeepsakes for the beautiful graphics!

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