Thirteen: Thanksgiving

Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.     1 Thessalonians 5:18 (MSG)

I'm thankful for so much in my life. 

I'm thankful for all of life's blessings, isn't everyone?

I'm also thankful for all life's trials - for the abuse, the loss, the pain, the illness. Isn't everyone? I suppose not. But without these things - these huge life things - I wouldn't be who I am, what I am, or where I am today, so why not be thankful? Why not thank God for helping me through these tough times and showing me joy amidst the turmoil and for consistently putting people in my life who helped me through and reminded me why life is worth living? 

As I sat at my computer at 12:26AM, awaiting the time to give Zachary his 1AM medication, I felt thankful that all went well and I have a child who, although going through a rough time, is taking it amazingly well at this point. A slave to my every-three-hour medication alarms for at least a week, I will strive to be cheerful while waking up a grumpy child to force horrible tasting medicine down his throat. OK, maybe not too cheerful, as it might anger said child if I'm overly peppy at 1 or 4 am. By the end of the week I may be too sleep-deprived to remember to be cheerful, so I pray that God will give me some sort of reminder of how blessed I am to have this precious child in my care.

And now, closing in on 4:30PM, I am thankful for the nap I got this afternoon, for my husband who, although sick, is running to the store to get me something to hopefully fix my pounding migraine, and for the ability to have a day when a quick trip to the grocery store and doing some dishes and laundry are all that are required.


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Forty Days In Thought, Word, and Deed