Thankful Living

It is Thanksgiving week here in America.  A time for good food, fellowship, friends, family, and football.  Mostly in that order I expect.  It is my favorite gathering Holiday because it is the only Holiday when our family actually celebrates on the day.  We will be minus one family this year, which makes us sad, but we will still take a few photos, give a few hugs, play a few games of cribbage, and eat too much food.

Our first Thanksgiving as a married couple, we were separated due to Joel being in the Air Force, and having just finished basic training.  They "lost" his paperwork for a while and he ended up staying in Texas.  I spent the day with my family and he spent the day in the barracks.  One Thanksgiving in the Philippines, a typhoon came through and we ended up eating jello, chips, a bit of under cooked turkey and dessert.  Joel had to work, and as a meteorologist, he sat before a dark screen with a candle for light, waiting for the typhoon to pass.  Quite the image, really.

There is always something to be thankful for.  We have much to give thanks for this year.  Certainly, the cancer battle wants to steal our joy, but we cannot help but be grateful for family, who continue to pray and encourage us.  Friends who do the same.  Thankful for the cancer center just 12 minutes away from our home.  Thankful for Joel's Interim position.  Thankful for the treatments being tolerated, the kidney surgery going well.  Thankful for a warm home with a gas fireplace that turns on with a remote, a Bose player that has us already listening to our favorite Christmas music. Thankful for a store where we can order dinner for the family when energy is low.  Thankful for the money to order the meal, buy Christmas gift cards, and just plain have what we need and more.  We are thankful for a God who promises to fight for us.  We are blessed.

I look forward to gathering around our table, making memories and receiving a bounty of blessings.  I pray for you the same.  It is a time for thankful living.  There is always something to be thankful for!