Thankful

It's been very hard for me to blog lately, since there is no news. Of course, there's no bad news, either, so it's just a lack of things to write about.

Today, though, Kim Kulp has challenged us to write about what we are thankful for, so that has inspired me.

First off, I am deeply saddened again by the loss of another child to pneumonia. Etsegenet Forrest was brought home to God on Saturday and sits with Him, and all we can do is to pray for understanding. The Forrest family has been very present in my prayers lately.

But back to thankful. I am thankful for the support and the love that I can feel coming from the other members of the Yahoogroups list. We are all God's family, but this group has been so essential in helping its members through the process that I have no idea where we would be without it. Every single member contributes with prayers and support and its amazing. All of you are truly blessings from heaven.

I am thankful for my family, my husband and daughter, my parents, and my uncles, aunts, cousins, and in-laws. Again, there is a lot of support to be had in hard times and I can feel how much they want us to succeed. It's humbling to know there are so many people on your side.

And I am thankful for God. I know that I need to place my trust in him, even during the hardest of times when faith is in short supply. My cousin Amy reminded me of that this morning. When things seem very bleak, that's the time you need to trust most of all and that is no mean feat. Thank you, Amy, for putting things bit more into perspective for me.

(and now for a small silly story)

This morning I was lazy. I stayed in bed until I heard my daughter get up and then waited for her to come and get me instead of going to get her. I heard her door open, and I expected small feet to pad to our bedroom, but instead, I heard some clanking around and then realized she was going to the bathroom by herself. She went, flushed, and washed her hands before walking down the hall. Just as she came into the bedroom, the phone rang.

"I'll get it, mommy" said her little voice, and sure enough, that's just what she did. Not only did she pick up the phone, but she pressed talk and said "Hello? Hi Daddy. Mommy is in bed." And then she brought the phone to me.

It's amazing how much of a little person she is becoming. And I am thankful for that, too.

In fact, I'm thankful to be alive and to have the things I have. I have a house, I have a family, a car, a computer to write this, a phone, food to feed us, and heat to warm us up. And that is a vast amount more than others have.

Thank you, Kim. I needed this today.