Giving Thanks

First, I want to thank Chris for this graphic. Oftentimes I totally forget to give credit where credit is due. Without your help I would still be struggling to get my other graphics and photos into my blogs. Thanks, my friend.

I have a best friend who takes care of me. He loves me when I am unlovable, helps me when I am helpless and shows tenderness at every turn. Yes, of course Jesus is the answer. However the friend I described above is one I can see and touch. He's my husband Rob. Certainly your spouse is supposed to be your best friend, but that doesn't always happen. I am grateful to God for my best friend. Below is a picture of another friend . . . her name is Precious.

We got Precious a couple of years ago. I've had two black Pomeranians before. The first was Sparkle, and escapee from the Fairfield County dog shelter. The next was Teddy. Teddy lived 12 hard years in Mexico. He passed away in 2001. We had other pommies, but I just fell in love with the black ones. Precious was my chance to fall in love again. I am so thankful to have her. One of the cutest things she does is pray. Praying is serious business to her. Rob and I start our day with prayer. If Precious is outside, she will raise a huge fuss if we start without her. We can't fool her, not even if we pray in the farthest room away from her. She jumps on the couch while we sing or begin prayer and calms almost immediately. I think she is thankful as well.

I am thankful for my sister Sharon. For years our relationship was pretty terrible. I took her place as the baby of the family. She teased me a lot (I am still sensitive to teasing). I went wild in my teens/early 20's. She took care of my kids for a while. We had an uneasy peace. About 25 years ago, I promised to take my mom to see her. On that visit we realized we had a lot more stuff in common than we thought. In an instant our relationship was healed. All our dislikes disappeared like water flows over rocks downhill. I believe God intervened and gave us back to each other. Sisters are good, yes they are!

Today I am grateful for God in my life, my husband, my Precious, my sister and for you . . .

THANKFUL

Seems like decades ago . . . when I first had a journal/blog on that other place . . . can't say the name right now or I will lose my thankfulness . . . I asked others to post on their blog or in my comments the things they were thankful for. I actually asked them to do it every day. Of course I had to make an entry every day for the month of November leading up to Thanksgiving. I loved the posts and comments. So . . . for the next 10 days, I want to talk about my thankfulness. If you'd like to join me, put a comment here or post something in your blog and leave me a link.
I have so many reasons to be thankful, but if I tell them all today, I won't have any left for my next entries. I will start with a few things.

I am grateful for my mom. She's been gone 11 years now, but a couple of nights ago I saw her in my dream. I usually don't see her face in my dreams, but I saw it this time. Mom had undying love for her 4 daughters and many grandchildren. She had faith in me when everyone else had given up. Of course I was/am the baby ~ 8 years younger than my next-oldest sister, and she spoiled me. She encouraged my creativity and my love of learning. One of my most treasured memories is when she came to my college graduation (I was 41 years old). As I crossed the stage to receive my diploma, I saw her at the back of the room crying tears of joy. I am so thankful that the Lord let me be her daughter.

I am thankful for each of my 5 husbands. Each one came into my life and loved me in their own way. I learned about myself with them. Well, I'm still learning with Rob. I grew emotionally, learned my weaknesses, gained wisdom and a strong(er) will with each marriage. I am very grateful now to have stopped marrying. (Whew!)


I'm grateful that the sun rose today and I with it. Sometimes I wonder if we know how very precious each day is. My last husband died in the space of a day. All the tomorrows we had lined up were not to be. When I waken every day, I remember that my "wild" days alone could have taken me off this earth. Really. One day 43 years ago, I gave my son up for adoption. Another day 16 1/2 years later, he found me. I have had so many days that were not all that great. There have been at least 100 times more good days than bad. I look forward to tomorrow. Because after all, if I wake up I will have at least one more day to be thankful.


I'm not sure how to put this . . . I've been watching my state burn once again. I have cried over the losses. Just north of me in Montecito over 200 multi-million dollar homes were lost. I'm grateful I don't live there. I am so very grateful that so far, no one has died as a direct result of the fires. I am also thankful that as awful as the fires were to watch and read about, I am still human. One of God's kids, as it were. It hurts, but I am happy that I still care enough.

I'm grateful for you . . .