Hello my sweet blogging friends!
Can you believe that Thanksgiving day is here? And before you know it, Christmas Day will be here. And then an entire new year will be here. So my friends......
Me?
I am thankful most and foremost for my faith. While today is a day for us to reflect and give thanks (and I do), I am a person that gives thanks every day to my Lord. I have a BEAUTIFUL relationship with the Lord and I am always saying thank you to Him on a daily basis for the blessings He has given to me. I thank Him for allowing me to wake up every morning. I thank Him for allowing me to be able to go to the bathroom naturally and I thank Him for the beautiful blessings that He has given to me and provided for me; my children, my family, our jobs and income, our home, our vehicles, etc. I do not need to wait until today to say Thank you and to ponder on what things I am grateful for. I know these things all year long, every day of my life.
As most of you know, I have a long list of health problems that I face every day. I take 14 medications per day, some of those medications I take 2-3 times per day. I am constantly in chronic pain ALL the time, sometimes a bit more bearable than others. I run on anywhere from 4-6 hours of sleep a day, sometimes going 36-48 hours of being awake before I am able to sleep. I cannot do half of the things that I used to be able to do, as simple as cleaning my house, cooking and bathing on my own. I now need help bathing. I miss doing things with my daughter, as simple as going to the park and swinging on the swings with her to see which one of us can go the highest and I miss being able to sit in my craft room for hours and craft away to make beautiful projects. Now my daughter has to lay in bed with me and cuddle up and watch a movie to "do" something with me and I can only sit in my craft room to craft for 20 minutes, maybe 30 if I am lucky, before I have to get up and go rest. The point I am trying to make, is that although I have a very rough life that can be extremely painful, depressing, boring and inconvenient most of the time, I am ALIVE! And for that I am grateful! I would rather go through all the pain and live life the way I do right now, than to not live at all. My life has taken me awhile to accept because of the life I used to lead, but I am so blessed still. I get to wake up every day and see my beautiful daughter's smile. I get to cuddle up with her and watch a great movie. I get to see/hear my family and friends and I still get to craft. I may not be able to cook much at all anymore but I still get to eat the good food that my family makes. I am still Alive! So to answer that photo above that asks what am I thankful for? I am thankful for my life and because of everything that I go through, I am thankful for the smallest of things that most people overlook or take for granted.
Does your table look like this today?
On Thanksgiving day, my table does. I am surrounded by loved ones and this year, I have a new guest who will be sitting around the table with my family. A 19 year old young man who lost his father many years ago and who has a mom who would rather know her alcohol than know her son. He is a very hard worker and works with a relative of mine, and he lives with his elderly grandmother for now. He has bounced around from home to home of friends until moving in with her. She is spending her holiday with the elderly in the senior center so instead of him sitting at home alone, he will be sitting with my family and I and we are so happy to have him! And just like the photo above, we do bow our heads to say grace and give thanks. We even go around the table during our meal and each person takes a turn and vocally expresses what they are thankful for. But while most of us have a gathering around the table that looks like the photo above, there are some of us who have empty chairs at their table. Empty because their loved one is away in the Military, unable to be home with family and eating a hot, home cooked meal because they are graciously sacrificing their life every day for us. So while you say grace( or if you have already and just forgot, please say a prayer), please ask the Lord to bless over all of our military men and woman and ask Him to keep them safe and to return them home to their loved ones so that they never have to miss a holiday meal again with their loved ones. And please pray for the family to give them strength and peace in their hearts, while their loved ones are away. And while we all have loved ones and friends gathered around, some people don't have a table to gather around at all because they are homeless and at this time of the year, they are just trying to brace the cold weather and keep safe from the crime and cruelty of the streets. So please say a prayer for all of those men and women too, who face these situations every day. Pray for them to find shelter and a hot meal.
And I just want to say that I am also thankful for all of you. It is such a wonderful feeling to be able to interact with each of you on a daily/weekly basis. Friends are a beautiful blessing and I have so many blessings! So from my family to yours, I wish you a very healthy, blessed and Happy Thanksgiving holiday!
Until next time,
Enjoy life's blessings~
Happy Thanksgiving to you!
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanks giving Jo..I didn't know about your problems..But I am glad that God has given you enough strength to face them and a loving family to share your pain with.. God bless you..Keep smiling..
ReplyDeleteLove
Richa
Have a blessed Thanksgiving and thanks for sharing your story.
ReplyDeleteHi Jo,
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful post my friend!! I am grateful for our wonderful friendship!
Love you to pieces my friend!!
Happy Thanksgiving to you & your family
Migdalia
Crafting with Creative M
What a beautiful post for this Thanksgiving day! I am so thankful for our friendship, you are so kind and thoughtful and our talks and your compassion about my grandson Zachary's pain means so much to me. Thinking of you today and wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteHugs my friend,
Pam
scrap-n-sewgranny.blogspot.com
A lovely post.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post!! Hope you had a great time with your family!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful and uplifting post this is my dear friend!! I'm so thankful for you and I hope you enjoyed a wonderful, happy thanksgiving!! Big hugs, Jo!!
ReplyDeleteLisa
A Mermaid's Crafts
Happy thanksgiving Jo. I share your pain and I also am thankful to God for every day.
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving Jo - a great testimony of how the Lord is helping you each day and your focus on the positive - Jesus is coming soon and I look forward to that day when there will be no pain for everyone and when Jesus will wipe the tears from my eyes - oh what a glorious day that will be - blessings to you and your family and all that come in your path - God bless the young man that is struggling with his family situation - that sat at your table on Thanksgiving day and I am thankful he has you to help guide him on his journey. Have a fabulous day!
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving my friend (a little late) :D I am thankful for you and our friendship over the many many years. xx
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful post Jo~I hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Thank you for being such a great friend..I appreciate your friendship!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Sherrie K
Thank you for sharing your story, and giving us another reminder about being thankful for all the blessings in our lives. May you continue to share your positive attitude - and our prayers are that you may find some relief for the pain you are experiencing.
ReplyDelete