Thankfulness Journal

Tomorrow is Thankful Thursday, but today is thankful Wednesday in my mind! So many things to be thankful for, I don't want to wait until tomorrow...because tomorrow may never come...and also I'll be busy all day...so...Let me count some of the things I am thankful for:

1.  Last night we received a message that my niece's stepdaughter had been in a very bad car accident. She is 17 years old. The original message said that she was being air-lifted to a hospital with possible serious injuries.  We immediately sent out a prayer request on Facebook to our prayer warriors and friends...and waited for more information while we prayed.  Let me say this, I was overwhelmed with the number of people who immediately responded in prayer and with words of encouragement and compassion.  I may sometimes get frustrated with Facebook, but when the chips are down and we need prayer and help, people have been wonderful to respond quickly and with a heart to pray.

In a few hours we finally heard an update.  Apparently the original information was incorrect. She was NOT air-lifted, however, she WAS thrown from the car due to not having a seatbelt on. There were five in the car, and the car was hit broadside on her side, and she was the only one thrown and injured. However, PRAISE GOD!!!! She only sustained a broken left arm (and she is left-handed) and other minor injuries, and was released from the hospital!!!!! PRAISE GOD!  I consider that a miracle...anytime a person is ejected from a vehicle upon impact, the chances of very serious injury are very great.  But GOD, and because people were praying...this young lady was able to walk out of the hospital with very minor injuries, all things considered.  Now, I will say this, this young lady is currently living in a state of rebellion against her family, and she is definitely in need of those prayers to be restored to her family and to the Lord. So please keep praying. I believe God wanted to focus this attention on her for bigger reasons than a broken arm...but PRAISE GOD, that is all it was!!!

2.  Our friend Sharon, for whom many have been praying, who is undergoing chemotherapy for lung cancer, is actually doing much better right now!  The chemo seems to be shrinking the tumors and she is feeling much better now than she has for several months.  We had a wonderful visit with her over the weekend, and it was such a blessing and joy to be with her. She always blesses us more than we could ever bless her.  Here we are with her...we are her "Florida Family", as she is Minnesota transplant, and we all adopted her and her son about 10 years ago. 

Here is a link to Sharon's latest CaringBridge Journal.

3.  Prior to our visit with Sharon on Saturday, this same crowd of people charged into the nursing home where my mother in law resides to wish her a Happy Mother's Day. She was overwhelmed with joy.

I thank the Lord for my dear mother in law, who will be 95 years old this July, and that she is still in relatively good health.  We are so blessed to have her with us still.

4.  I am very thankful for my sweet family...my son and his dear wife, a.k.a. "The Newlyweds"...

 Here they are with the two new pictures they created for me for mother's day (the deer and bear silhouettes). They installed them in the bathroom next to my photographs of deer and bears...They are so creative, and had such fun hanging these and getting them straight!! I loved hearing them giggling in there while they worked together. Such a blessing!!!

And here we are with our other son (who just woke up after working a late night shift, but he wanted to join us for Mother's Day dinner, which the kids provided for me!)

5.  So thankful for the rain we've been having this week...we needed it so badly!

6. Thankful for these pretty petunias that were a gift to me from my hubby for Mother's Day...

And especially thankful that I spied this deer almost on my front porch...who was EATING my petunias...and I caught him and shooed him away before he ate them all...

He only managed to eat one side of the basket of flowers. I removed the flowers to our enclosed courtyard in the back, and also put some pieces of ivory soap bars around them, and so far the deer have not discovered them. They would have to jump a tall fence to get to them now...but never underestimate the agility of a hungry deer...they've been back by the front porch every day since this tasty snack, looking for them....

8.  And last, but certainly not least, I am thankful for my Lord Jesus Christ, Who lived to die for me and you...and He is coming back again to take us home to live with Him in heaven forever!!! 

Above All

Michael W. Smith

Above all powers

Above all kings

Above all nature and all created things

Above all wisdom and all the ways of man

You were here before the world began

Above all kingdoms

Above all thrones

Above all wonders the world has ever known

Above all wealth and treasures of the earth

There's no way to measure what you're worth

Crucified

Laid behind the stone

You lived to die

Rejected and alone

Like a rose trampled on the ground

You took the fall

And thought of me

Above all

What are YOU thankful for today?