Thanksgiving - part 1

Wow…it’s November already. In many ways this year has flown by, but in other ways it’s gone very slowly. I love the month of November (especially when I get to spend it in Florida where the weather is typically quite nice). November is the month my favorite little guy that is growing up so fast was born. Thanksgiving is also in November and because of that, my Facebook wall is often sprinkled with daily mentions of what my friends are thankful for. I’m not too good at remembering to do things every day, so I usually do one big list of 30 things I’m thankful for at the end of the month. I think this year I’ll do a weekly blog with one week’s worth of thankfulness. I have so much to be thankful for this year…not that I didn’t previous years, but this year has some pretty big ones that have already happened and are about to happen. These are in no particular order of importance…just what pops into my head.

1)      I’m thankful for God who created me and saved me. I’m thankful for all the lessons he’s taught me and that He’s never let me go. I’m thankful that He brought us through the last 17 months and has given us His strength when we were weak and struggling. He’s blessed us more than we deserve and has given us friends and family who have made our journey easier than it could have been.

2)      I’m thankful for my husband and son. The three of us have been through a lot together, both good and bad. We’ve lived in a foreign country, we’ve lived in various states, and we’re finally getting to settle down and put down permanent roots together. We’ve been through multiple deployments together – Justin being the one deployed, and Corey and me being the ones at home waiting for him to come back to us. We’ve spent over a year at Walter Reed together celebrating the victories, and being there for each other through the struggles.

3)      I’m thankful for the friendships that God has blessed me with over the past 30 years. I have friends that I’ve known literally all my life, others that I’ve met just in the last few years, and everything in between. I’ve found that God brings some friends into my life for a short time and some to teach me lessons. My favorites are the ones that due to circumstances, we may come in and out of each other’s lives, but time and distance don’t hurt the friendship. We just pick up where we left off and the time we do get to spend together is all the much sweeter. With some of the more surface level friends, after being apart, there’s awkward small talk and not sure how the friendship stands, but with others, you just hug and catch up on everything that’s happened since you last saw each other or talked. It’s like no time has passed. They often become like family. I’m blessed to have quite a few of this kind of friends.

4)      I’m thankful for my family. I love my family, and they’ve been there for me in for ways than I can begin to tell especially over the last year and a half. My mom and sisters are three of my closest friends. If I had to pick a shopping buddy, they’d be at the top of my list. My dad is always there to help when I need it and always has good advice. He’s checked a lot of things off of my “daddy-do list” to get our house ready for us to live in. Both of my parents were in the delivery room when Corey was born, and they’ve done so much to help with him since then…especially over the past year and a half. I’m thankful for the 18 years I got to spend with my Grams and that I still can spend time with my other grandparents. I’m thankful for my niece and nephews who I enjoy spending time with, and I’m thankful that they’re close in age to my son so that they can grow up together. I’m thankful for my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I’m thankful for the people who have become my family through marriage.

5)      I’m thankful for my house. I’m sitting in my living room right now, looking around and it still doesn’t feel quite real. We were given this beautiful house that is close to family and friends, but after moving every couple years and having to live away from our hometown, it’s almost unreal to think that we won’t have to move again. That we won’t be waiting on Army orders telling us where to go. This is our home now, and we’re blessed to have our home in our hometown.

6)      I’m thankful for the people who have been kind and befriended my son. As a parent, it makes my heart happy seeing people show kindness to my son, when they make him feel special. The past year and a half has been hard on Corey. In some ways, he’s had to grow up faster dealing with Justin’s injuries. We’ve had to drag him to more appointments that I can remember, and he was expected to sit still and behave. He’s been alongside Justin for his physical and occupational therapies. He hasn’t handled it all perfectly, but overall, he’s done very well. At Walter Reed, he didn’t know a lot of kids his age, so most of the people he called his friends were old enough to be his parents or grandparents. He would pick flowers (actually weeds, but he thought they were beautiful) for the female physical/occupational therapists, have Nerf wars with our neighbors across the hall, wrestle with some of Justin’s buddies, have sword fights with inflatable swords, and so much more. Corey’s the kind of kid who little things mean a lot to him. Yes, he likes getting toys, and if asked he’ll tell you he’d prefer toys (as would most kids his age), but in reality, it’s the time spent with him that matters the most. People who take the time to talk to him and play with him. He’s had a lot of people take an interest in his life and when he had to say his good-byes, he had a hard time. We ended up making a couple calls so that he could talk to his (adult) friends to help him feel better. I’m thankful that these friends didn’t mind answering their phones to talk to a 4 year old. It meant a lot to him. Or all the times we’ve gone out to Sharptown, MD, and everyone welcomes Corey with open arms and they always have juice boxes stocked up for him. And the people in Florida who are always happy to see Corey the times that we’ve visited and were so excited when they heard that he would be home for good now. It means a lot to me to know how many people care about him.

7)      I’m thankful for my church families. I was sitting in the pew at the church that I grew up in, that I’m excited to be regularly attending again, and I saw a lot of familiar faces and a lot of new faces, but one thing that hasn’t changed is that those faces are very diverse. There were young people and elderly, people of all races, and from all kinds of backgrounds. There were people in wheelchairs, people walking using prosthetics (one of the two being Justin), and people walking around on their God-given legs. There were people raised in church from the time they were born, and others who came from rough upbringings who have fought addictions. And that’s exactly how I like it. Heaven will be full of people who are all different who have lived through very different experiences. I’ve never agreed with churches who exclude people based on skin color or any other thing that might make someone different. We were all created by God, and we all have the same opportunity to accept His gift of salvation, and in that, we’re all the same where it counts. Diversity can be a beautiful thing if we don’t let it divide us. I’m thankful that every church I’ve regularly attended has had that beautiful diversity and attitude. I’m thankful for my home church and our church family in GA who have prayed for us and encouraged us over the past year and a half. I’m thankful that every time we’re there, we are welcomed with open arms. I’m thankful that regardless of the fact that I’ve been away for most of the past nearly 6 years due to Justin being in the Army, when I’m at my home church, I feel like I never left. I’ve known some of the people there since I was born, many since I was 5 or 6 years old, and others I’ve met along the way. They’re my church family…not perfect, but forgiven, just like me.