Giving Thanks

It's Thanksgiving and I've been a little down. See, I put up many walls to my heart, but when someone finds their way on the other side, they are more dear to me than anything. When they hurt, I hurt... badly.

On Tuesday, I spoke with my friend and found out that she was on her way to see her father. Hospice was on the way over, and they were not sure if he would make it to Thanksgiving. Her daughter came in from out of town, and her son was going to have to do double duty since hospice was called in for HIS father-in-law as well. I was just too down for words. Then my friend said something to put it all back into perspective for me:

I'm not sad, though because my daddy knows the Lord. He will finally get a chance to see who he has spent his whole life waiting to see, and he won't be sick and suffering when he does.

Isn't that what it's all about anyway? In the midst of making a life for himself and his family, her daddy never forgot that he was also WAITING for something much bigger and better than the big house in the right neighborhood, the status cars and gadgets, and the never-ending list of the season's must-haves... Hmmmm.

We walk around here so busy all the time, running from project to project, task to task. We often seem to forget to stop and be thankful for the blessings of the day. Maybe it's just me. I mean, I love to say prayers with my girls at night and thank God for the blessings of the day. But the sad truth is that I sometimes rush through the prayers and think of them as no more than an item to be checked off of my daily to-do list. Just typing that confession fills me with a tremendous feeling of shame and sadness.

You see, I often think about the goals I've set and have yet to reach, and I allow them to sometimes overshadow the real blessings that mean everything to me. Here it is, I have a nice home in a good neighborhood, a vehicle I didn't even have to go shopping for. I just called and said what I wanted and it was delivered to my door. I have a job that really DOES make a difference. I have healthy, beautiful children who were born from my womb to supplement the healthy, beautiful ones born in my heart. I have a husband who loves to come home to his wife and children after work every day. I still have both of my parents, and I know my family all loves each other, despite our halos being a bit crooked. And I have great friends who love me and are there for me whether they are down the street or across the world.

Yes, I am a very blessed woman indeed. I am just sorry that I sometimes forget to acknowledge them because I've allowed myself to go about the business of forgetting that I, too, am waiting for something much bigger and better than the accoutrements of this life.

So, as we go about the business and "busy-ness" of this season, let us remember to laugh often, to love hard, and to strive to be a blessing and learn something along the way. This is not our home, folks. We are simply passing through on the way to something truly great.

Happy Thanksgiving!