Thanksgiving Inventory

This is the eve of Thanksgiving so I'm going to take a quick inventory of what I am thankful for. Sometimes we all lose sight of the simple things. If I don't have a million dollars, if I'm not perfectly beautiful, if I don't drive the coolest, or newest car, if I don't have the big beautiful home that I tend to lust for in that place I call my imagination, etc... then I often get a feeling like "someday my ship will come in." Leaving me always wanting more.  Ever been there? I come back to the place of physical habitation, look around, and know that things could be a whole heck of a lot worse! Actually, they have been.

Most of all  I thank God that I am here and have grown in wisdom, grace, forgiveness, and love. I could still be the sullen teenager who hated her alcoholic father. Instead I have since realized that he was a broken man who never could find or fulfill his destiny. So he went through the motions, drowning (and sometimes stirring up) his rage in alcohol;  forever searching for that unattainable peace. I am thankful that near the end of his life he did find his purpose and because of that he left his children a Christian legacy if we choose to receive it. There is just something about being forgiven yourself that opens you up to forgive others. When you do an amazing thing happens. For me, the pain and bitterness started to fade enabling a colorful ribbon of joy and peace to flutter out from the depths of my being. So the bad times became remembrances of bleak times, and the good became a banner that flies strong as forgiveness becomes a coveted priceless treasure. Therefore, now that joy can fill me up and overflow to others. This is not a lesson on HOW to forgive! I'm simply stating that I am THANKFUL that forgiveness has been the vehicle that has driven me to peace and paints my whole view on this canvas we normally call life."

I like this quote by Albert Barnes

 We can always find something to be thankful for, and there may be reasons why we ought to be thankful for even those dispensations which appear dark and frowning.

Without taking anything for granted, I am very thankful for my 4 children! They amaze me with their talents and creativity. They have an uncanny understanding of life that I have just been coming into the latter part of my 48 years! They are not rich, famous, or overachievers (darn! ha ha) but they are functional human beings and for that I am very thankful! Of course there are many more things in this life that I am thankful for, and we can all fill in our own blanks.

In my closing thoughts I want to say that I may not know you or maybe I do. I can truthfully say that I care about you and if we were face to face you would see the sincerity in my eyes. I hope by what I have shared  that you can reach deep and pull out your true reasons for being  thankful. You will be overtaken by a very cleansing feeling and that is something to be thankful for!