Giving thanks

With Thanksgiving drawing near, I count my many blessings. I begin with six children successfully launched. None look to us for housing, food or extra cash. All but one remains married after at least twenty years. Thankful that the grandchild we worried might not launch has kept the same job for five or six years, pays bills on time and lives independently. When I count my blessings I include a hubby who sticks with projects to completion whether remodeling, fixing a car or making travel arrangements. Modern medicine has blessed him with additional energy and years to keep doing all that. I know, I know all about Big Pharma’s greedy grasp for the patient’s dollar. But Big Pharma used many dollars to fund the research that keeps him going. It also completed final tests just as another family member received a lifetime diagnosis requiring daily medication to keep them in college and then gainfully employed. So thank goodness for Big Pharma and the insurance and governmental programs that help pay the bills. Thank you, Lord, for healthy children and grandchildren. For the heart surgery on a three month old who 10 years later still has no issues.Electricity blesses me everyday with fresh clothes, clean dishes, hot water, a temperature controlled house, entertainment, clean floors, lights in the night and lifts that heavy garage door for us. Our plethora of electric conveniences relieves us from tedious, time consuming heavy work. I think of this any time we lose electricity for a few hours. Those blackouts underscore this quiet, daily blessing in our lives that keep everything running smoothly. When a storm knocks out the power, I am thankful for the men and women who get out of bed, leave a warm house to turn on the lights for everyone else. Along with my prayers for their safety flows a prayer of thanksgiving for the years they spent training and practicing. I am thankful to still have a bit of my writing published every week. Everytime someone stops and tells me they read what I wrote, I am blessed. Their kind words keep me typing.As I write this, the rain pours down outside while I stay inside warm and dry. Thank you, Lord, for the rain, the roof over my head and everything that keeps it that way.When I stand to walk around and stretch a bit, I remember with thanksgiving the times I have spent in physical therapy rebuilding strength and then the exercise opportunities to maintain that strength at Champagnolle Landing or Healthworks. Yesterday Hubby packed our van with boxes of Bibles and Christian literature to take to Love Packages in Illinois where they ship literature to folks around the world. I am thankful for the books so many have donated as well as the gas funds raised through selling books that don’t qualify as Christian literature. I am also thankful that we drive right near Love Packages enroute to visit our far flung family which enables us to combine our reasons for traveling. Then there are all the little things for which I am thankful: fresh, clean water that does not have to be rationed. Phone calls from loved ones, computers that speed up the process of writing and gathering information, health that keeps my fingers moving across the keyboard and stitching. In the daily routine, I am thankful for the food items I find on sale to help stretch our budget. I am thankful I still have the energy and interest in teaching the kids at church as well as the volunteers and staff at church and in the community who keep things moving along. For these my many blessings and so much more, thank you Lord. I enjoy untold riches every day.