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Monday, November 24, 2008

Being Thankful


In the spirit of Thanksgiving I have been thinking of all the things and people I am thankful for in my life. I had my nephew Alex this past weekend and as always he is such a joy to have around. He is one of the easiest babies that I have ever had to watch. His parents (Johns brother and his wife) work at the hospital and work the weekends so I get to have him when I am needed which is usually once a month. They live over by the Grandville Mall so other than getting him for a weekend we don't see him as much as Jr and Emma so I am grateful that we get the chance to watch him and spend some time with him. Tyler had two soceer games on Saturday, and afterwards we went grocery shopping and you could not ask for a more easy going baby. Considering he spends the first half of the weekend getting malled by the kids he seems to be happy to be with us. Yesterday our furnance just stopped working, not something you want to happen on a normal day but especially on a Sunday. We were going to try to hold off until Monday so we did not have to pay the furnace man big bucks but we could not do it, our kids were freezing and I did not want to take the chance of getting Alex sick. So we called, thankfully we did because it turned out to be a pretty easy fix and the repair man must have been in a generous mood and charged me nothing when he usually charges $90 just for a service call on a Sunday. He even thinks the part might be covered so we may end up paying nothing. How wonderful is that? Could it be that our luck may be starting to change? Also John called and told me that there is one job with about 40 hours worth of work on the horizon, like possibly in another week or so. I know it is not much but this is huge to him because there has been nothing coming in. We can only pray for more work to come in. My friend Jen sent me the book that I am reading right now it's called Just enough Light for the step I'm on. (Thanks Jen) It is a wonderful book and it could have not have come to me at a more needed time. It is making me see all the good in my life when I feel that I am surrounded by bad. I am on the last chapter and I am sad that I am almost done with it, it gives me hope and just reaffirms my faith in God. Also we had a house burn down Saturday night in our neighborhood. Katie had called and asked me to pray because there was someone trapped inside. She knew this because Rich is a volunteer firefighter and he was called out for this fire. Katie and I went and took a ride to make sure it was no one that we knew or to see if there was any way we could help. As we stood across the street watching the house burn and all the fireman coming and going, we were beside ourselves. Years ago we watched our Uncle's house burn down to the ground in the middle of an April night. It was one of the worst things to witness, but here we are watching it and someone is inside unable to escape. The others that were able to escape were standing directly in front of us but on the other side of the street. I just wanted to reach out and hug them, but kept my distance because I was not sure the state of mind they were in. I regret not saying at least something, I just felt so bad I did not know the right words. I came home and told the kids and they were scared because their uncle Rich was battling the fire. It is a good thing Katie and I did not know which fireman was Rich (because they all look alike) because he later informed us that he was one of the first three to enter the house. Thank God for these brave fireman who risk their own lives to save others. I also came home that night and felt very thankful for my family and that we were all safe for that moment. So anyway here's my list, I know there is much more to be thankful for, but here is a few that are sticking out to me at the moment.


~I am thankful for all three of my kids

~I am thankful for my husband (even when I feel like he is one of my kids)

~I am thankful that God is the MOST important part of my life

~I am thankful for all of my friends

~I am thankful for my health and all the health of my friends and family

~I am thankful for cheaper gas prices

~I am thankful that I am an Aunt

~I am thankful I am a sister, daughter, mother

~I am thankful I have a home with heat in it

~I am thankful for books without them I would be forced to play video games with
my husband...

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and you get to spend it with all the
People you are thankful for!!

3 comments:

jennie said...

I just left my friend Mya's Blog and she did a thankful list too!

I will be jumping on that bandwagon, even if its just for me. There is something about counting blessings that just brings ya out of a funk! An I am so there.

Great list, I realize just how long a list can be and its wonderful!

Kristin said...

Well put, very well put.

I, too, have started a "thankful blog", I just don't know where to stop on the thankful list. There really is a lot of good in the crazy place that we are in...we just have to find it sometimes:)!! Maybe "steal" it if we have too!!!!:)

Lisa said...

Wow great post Shelly. You are so right it is hard sometimes to let the good things in life shine through when it seems like there is so much darkness from the bad. But the good things and the things that we do have to be thankful for are there, its just that sometimes we need to dig a little deeper to see them. The first thing on my list of things I am thankful for is my family and friends.
Love ya ~L