November 23, 2015

So Much For Which to be Thankful

November 23, 2015

God continues to give us things to be thankful for in this week focused on Thanksgiving.  Sometimes it is the little things, that we are blessed with and can be thankful for.  This morning, my husband let me sleep an hour longer, and I am thankful that he did.  It was a nice way to start my day.

At the office, it was slow and I had time to work on a couple of personal projects.  For one - my Christmas letter, I need photos of the family members.  As I went through my photos from this past year, I saw blessing after blessing.  So many good things have happened this year.  So many wonderful people make up our family.  This year we were able to go a few more places than usual.  Most of our cost of the airfare to Albuquerque earlier this fall, had been Christmas, birthday, and Mother's Day gifts the last few years.  So much to give thanks for this week and this year.

God wants us to give thanks for everything.  Too often, I don't remember to do that.  Little things and big things are to be appreciated.  Going through the photos, I saw so many beautiful sunsets and sunrises.  I am not only thankful for that beauty, but for the eyes to see the beauty.  Having lost my hearing, sometimes people ask if my other senses are more keen now to make up for the missing one.  I am not sure about that, but I do know that as I looked at those sunset photos, I recalled what joy each brought not only to me, but often to one of my granddaughters.  When they were buying their new house, I told her I loved the room for the girls, because it had an unobstructed view of sunsets.  She is growing to love them as much as I do.

Big things are also appreciated.  In our business, some days are slow and others are overflowing with work to be done.  This month we have closed a few days for trips to Houston, etc.  Even today was slow, but two or three of the jobs that came in were nice sized.  That means Ron is going to be very busy this week, but there is one holiday in there so he can relax a little.

Our youngest granddaughter has a birthday coming up.  Her mother told me something that the birthday girl really wants.  I thought it would be very easy to find.  It wasn't.  So I asked Ron to start looking on line.  He located one in Harlingen and came in my office to see if I would like to eat at Olive Garden tonight.  I asked him what he wanted to buy in Harlingen.  I know him well.  He told me, so we went to get the item and then I was able to return an un-needed item to Hobby Lobby before we went to Olive Garden for supper.  I know the wishes of a soon-to-be 4 year old are not the most important things in the world, but I am thankful Ron was able to find what she really wants. 

A phone call this evening gave us something else to be very thankful about.  We are surrounded with wonderful blessings every day.  We just need to start looking for them.  In this post where I said that a sunset was a little thing, even as I typed that, I thought, "How can I say a sunset is small?"  It reaches from one side of the sky to the other and is seen by millions of people at the same time. 

I am thankful that our son David and his wife are able to be away this week on an anniversary cruise.  They took one last year for their 10th anniversary and loved it so much it was not long before they booked one for this year.  I am thankful that they can get away and enjoy being waited on for the week. 

I am thankful for the way plans for our Thanksgiving Day have worked out.  God is good.  My sister is doing so much work planning, you would think we were planning for 100 people instead of 6.  She is a good planner.  I am thankful for that.  As long as she watches the marshmallows on the sweet potatoes to keep me from catching them on fire, we have it made! 

One thing I am very thankful for is those of you who faithfully read this blog.  I hope along the way, you are learning a little about how to more effectively communicate with friends or family members who are hard of hearing.  I hope as you gather with family members of all ages, that you will remember those who struggle to hear and talk a little slower and more distinctly.  If you do, they will be thankful for your efforts.