I thank God for all the usual things; plenty of food, comfortable and snug home, the health of my family, and so many more things. We have two awesome “kids;” a son and a daughter, and we have an awesome relationship with them both. (Our graphic designer son designed my background for this blog site, and our writer daughter put it up for me!) My husband and I are so thankful to be able to live fairly close to our parents, and to be able to see them or at least talk to them often. We treasure the many memories we can share involving our families.

A few of us in our family have had a brush or two with death over the years. Even though we are Christians, and know we will be blessed to live in eternity together as residents of Heaven, we do appreciate the time we have been given to stay here a little longer. Thanksgiving is a time for my family to honor my Daddy’s birthday. It has also become a time to remember that eleven years ago, he had cancer; and God healed him. God used the surgeon, who was able to get it all, and we have enjoyed these past years with him that we might not have had otherwise. It has meant a chance to make more memories, and appreciate one another more than before. There has also been more time for the grandchildren, and now great grandchildren to know my Daddy better so that they can remember him always.

Time enough to really know and remember grandparents is a great gift. I was blessed to know all my grandparents, as well as three of my great grandparents. I loved it then, but the longer I have lived I have realized how very special that is. The lessons I learned from them are treasures that I pull out and polish, or replay in my mind more often than I would have thought way back then. Sometimes you just don’t realize how precious someone or something is to you until it is either endangered, or gone.

I pray that this Thanksgiving week is a blessed time for you and yours. It doesn’t matter whether you are with them on “The Day,” or another day that works out best for you to be together. If you can’t be with them, I encourage you to call them or sit down and write them a letter; or both. Whoever is special in your life would love to know it; while you can still tell them. Have a very blessed and safe Thanksgiving.

Be blessed, my friends.