Thanksgiving Gratitude List

This isn’t just a Monday Gratitude List. This time, it’s a Thanksgiving List. When I look at how life has changed in the last year, I’m counting my blessings for:

• I’m grateful for a place to live. The thought of not having shelter is a scary thing, and just a couple of weeks ago, I wasn’t certain we’d be able to afford the rent much longer. What a relief to have work come in. Security!
• I’m grateful for new clients. Not just provision for bills, but rewarding work to do. Fulfillment!
• I’m grateful for settling in to a new town. Finding new friends. A place of worship. Community!
• I’m grateful for a loving husband who would take me to the moon and back if that’s where I wanted to go. Intimacy!
• I’m grateful for a God who loves me. Who wants me to commune with Him. He listens when we talk. Security, Fulfillment, Community AND Intimacy!
  

Thanksgiving Day

Did you have a nice Thanksgiving? We spent the afternoon with new friends Wendy and Jack in Harlingen, and their families. Jack is an orthopedic surgeon, and his family comes from Mexico. They have a beautiful home, and were very gracious to open it up to several from both sides of their families, as well as us. It was a perfect blending of Mexican and American cultures of several generations, except the food was All-American Thanksgiving. I was introduced to Jack's cousin Pillar (sounds like pill and rhymes with car), from Mexico City. I said, "Como esta, usted" and she said, "Mui Bien, et tu?" and I said, "Mui Bien, Gracias." I said it with all the correct Spanish accents. Then Pillar thought I was fluent in Spanish and/or was Hispanic and she started a long conversation in Spanish before she caught her breath. I had to explain I didn't know much Spanish! She thought I did pretty well-but now I'm determined that I need to learn more!

My contribution to the yummy meal was a recipe from Paula Deen. No offense, Mom, but it's called Not Yo Momma's Banana Pudding. It is delicious. I changed it up just a bit from the original recipe. In a mixing bowl, I mixed 1 pkg of cream cheese, reduced fat (it's smoother and blends better). To that I added: 1 large pkg. jello instant vanilla pudding, 1 cup half-n-half, 1 cup milk, and 1 can sweetened condensed milk. Then I added 1 regular container of Cool Whip, extra creamy. I put one layer of cookies on the bottom of the casserole pan. The cookies are by Peppridge Farm and are a shortbread cookie with the chess game figures on them. Then I layered 3 sliced bananas and the pudding mixture 3 more sliced bananas and the rest of the pudding mixture, and ended with another layer of cookies, pressed into the mixture. YUMMO!

It was great to spend our first Thanksgiving Day in the Rio Grande Valley with families who love each other and embrace life with gusto!

Thanksgiving-A Look Back

I continue to pinch myself and praise God for the direction our lives have taken over the past 15 months. I would have never DREAMED we would be where we are today last Thanksgiving. We've had several issues happen over the past year-circumstances that would fall into each of the "major stressors" categories. Illnesses, surgeries, betrayals, disappointments, being bullied, homelessness, joblessness, lack of direction, strange new surroundings, rejections...heartache of all kinds.

BUT GOD.

Through each trial, God has been faithful.
Through each trial, we have grown.
Through each trial, God's strength has been sufficient.
Through each trial, peace that supersedes all human understanding, permeates the heart and mind.
Through each trial, God reigns supreme.
Through each trial, my relationship with Jesus has been strengthened.

AND NOW.

A ministry with opportunities to use what God has been equipping us for all along.
A home with more square feet than our last eight dwelling places.
New friends to love, who love us back. Old friends who prove their loyalty.
God's networking to connect me to clients.

AND MORE.

Opportunities to pay it forward-to help others, using the resources with which God has entrusted us.
Womens Ministry as an open door for me to show ladies the love of God.
A new culture to learn and embrace.

So much for which to be thankful. The trials aren't over, but even still, we can testify...

WE ARE MOST BLESSED.