I'm Thankful

In the USA, many families are preparing to have dinner together to celebrate THANKSGIVING!  Usually this is the time when we start reflecting on what we have and what we are thankful for having or not having.  I wish, that we did this daily. I wish we took an inventory of our blessings and gave thanks to our Father in Heaven.  I wish we didn't wait for a party or a day but where we lived a life that was filled with gratitude.

My friend, Jodi, feels the same way.  She wrote this to me today:

It’s Wednesday…. Hump Day (who came up w/this I don’t know) – 2 more days left for some and for others it’s Thanksgiving Break!

 I am thankful for the opportunity to own a home and by the Grace of God maintain it. I am thankful for:

        i.            the vehicle I drive

      ii.            family and good friends

    iii.            an amazing church family

    iv.            food on the table

      v.            money for the wants (the things we things we just have to have, but really don’t need the majority of the time – a caffeinated beverage, piece of clothing etc. etc.) – More saving is on the horizon.

    vi.            Health and strength. So many are going through a lot, and though I need to lose weight, I am thankful there are not pressing health issues affecting me.

  vii.            The ability to work, to walk, to see, to speak, and feel ……

viii.            The ability to read, to travel, to eat and smell

     ix.            For the ability to take care of my father…. Though frustrations or better yet annoyances may arise J - I am so thankful I am able to take him to his varied doctor’s visits etc. I see so many who are left alone, not able to answer the questions being asked, or sitting there for hours at a time waiting on a family member to pick them up.

       x.          Dad and the fact he remembers family members names, though his dementia will increase as times goes on… He is able to exercise (he doesn’t saunter might I add…. It’s literally speed walking), he bathes and dresses himself and he is just dad/Grandpa Lloyd/LG/Sam/Uncle Lloyd or Uncle Sam/. Lloyd Gardner as he says with pride when he meets someone new.

     xi.        An amazing sister and what she brings to the family.

   xii.      Everything small, large and in between and the many freedoms we have.

She prompted this thanksgiving party for me.  I am thankful for this life I have been living. I get to live this life out, when so many others have been buried along the way.  I am thankful that I have been blessed to give birth to a son that I love and treasure so very much.  I am thankful that I have this amazing family that surrounds me and supports me and loves me. 

Now, I turn the floor over to you.  What are you thankful for?  Isn't it time to take stock of what you have been blessed to have, feel, do, or not have, not feel and not do?

Let us be thankful always!