Thankful

I’m thankful for my parents. I’m thankful for my sister. For my brother in law. For my two Beautiful nieces. I miss all of them terribly and I love them all dearly.

I’m thankful that so far they’re all healthy. So that, God willing, this may all just be a season. It’s a hard season, indeed, but a season that we can weather… Together, even while we aren’t.

I’m thankful for my friends, who are all too distant to hug even if we were not in a pandemic. So I guess in a weird way I’m thankful that not everyone I miss is missed because the world went sideways. It reminds me that some of this is normal.

I’m thankful for my job, for my team and for my manager. I know none of that is guaranteed, and I have been through seasons when it wasn’t the case. There have been career stops, when the boss was abusive or the team was toxic or the job was miserable … or just gone. I’m thankful I survived those seasons, to know how blessed I am, and how faithful God is, come what may. And I’m thankful for the appreciation those times remind me to have, when the day to day makes me… less appreciative.

I’m thankful for all the people who are working to help us all. Doctors and nurses and researchers and manufacturers of PPE and farmers and grocery store teams and postal employees and on and on. So many people out there that I may or may not ever see face to face, but who make a difference in my life and all our lives. (If that is you: I thank you, and I thank God for you.)

I’m thankful for all the beautiful places I’ve been, and all the wonderful people I’ve met. God willing, may there be more of both in the future.

I’m thankful for breath and whatever strength is in my body. I’m thankful for all the aches and pains I sometimes have that remind me not to take my well-being for granted.

Which I am prone to do… to take for granted what is good, and focus on what isn’t as much.

I’m thankful we set aside a day to be purposefully thankful.

I’m thankful for you out there, reading the semi-random flotsam that I share. I pray that you are well, in body and mind and spirit. I pray that you have strength for today, and hope for tomorrow, and know yourself to be loved and valued, because you are.

I’m thankful for the hope we can have in Christ, which is beyond measure or compare.

Thank you, God.

I hope you have reasons great and small to be thankful today.

And every day.