Giving Thanks

I really like the holiday of Thanksgiving, the traditions of family and good food and the chance to celebrate all the good things in life in which we are blessed.

I am thankful for my husband of 35 years, and his positive attitude toward things. I am so glad to wake up with him everyday. I am thankful to now be working with him, now that I am adjusting to being employed once again. I loved being able to work in the yard and and garden with him for most of the summer, doing what I love to do.

I am thankful we have jobs and he is doing what he loves to do. Me. I am still adjusting, but I am, indeed, thankful.

I am thankful I am the luckiest mother and grandmother in the world! I get to see them often and to see them grow up. I get to be a hands-on Grandma! I am thankful for the two new grandchildren this year - Jacob and Sawyer - and the promise of another in the coming year. I am thankful we are all pretty healthy, just the minor stuff like colds and colic.

I am thankful Dave and Amy's new home is in Palisade and they have new jobs, a new beginning for both. We are ecstatic to have Jack around, too!

I am thankful for our friends this year....we have many, old and new.

We lost our old dog this past year, so I am thankful for the 9 years he spent with us, and for the two Pound Hounds we adopted. Maggie and Sampson are our new Fur-Kids.

I am thankful two of my poems were published, totalling four to date. It is a blessing, at this time in my life.

I am thankful for all the problems we faced this year, for the fact that we faced them together, and so the load was divided and the joy was multiplied, as we waited upon God to work in his mysterious and mischievous ways. I am thankful for the chance to work on the lesson of patience and persistence, as it helped my faith to grow and to deepen. I began to learn to give thanks for all things, not just the things I pick and choose that are easy.

I am thankful my health has improved, and the back problems that I had last winter have improved. I still struggle, but I am learning to take it one day at a time.

I've had a lot of things to forgive this year. Betrayals, upheavals, disappointments and hurts. I am willing to be willing to be thankful for these things, as I give them to God and allow Him to transform them as is His will. So many times, all I could pray was for God's good will to be done. It wasn't easy, in fact, it was difficult. Each time, God would bring to mind how Jesus forgave from the cross, "Father, forgive them. They know not what they do." And I pray for the same, when I am the one in need of mercy, too.

I am thankful for second chances, for new beginnings, for each new day. I am thankful to be alive. I pray for the ability to give thanks, no matter the circumstances.

I give thanks for the increased awareness that God never deserts me. It is like a continual awakening that never ceases to give me peace.