Thankful.

Yesterday a friend put something on Facebook that made me think. She had seen on a friend's status the question, "What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?" It had caused her to stop and thank God and it stopped me as well. Several of the lessons at church lately have been on the necessity of thanks, bringing out the scripture that links unthankfulness with being unholy and a whole heap of other bad things. I can tell you, I didn't tell God thanks yesterday for a LOT of the things that I woke up with this morning. The health to get up with my husband at a dark hour, to have the food to feed him and my male in-laws before they went hunting. A husband that is always thanking me for the things that he could easily take for granted: doing his laundry, the dishes, grocery shopping. He always notices when I have cleaned, and tells me the house looks nice, even if I have only vacummed. (I love being able to brag on my man!) A country where I am free, a God who loves me, an enormous amount of family who accept me exactly as I am, friends who listen when I obsess over strange things and tell me to breathe, family who also happen to be friends, a job that gives me something to do during the day as well as being a good environment in which to work. Sunshine. Oh how I am thankful for sunshine. I know we don't have much of it left and I try to be careful to thank God for that enormous blessing.

Something else HUGE that has been making my heart sing lately: I wrote a post a while back about Cameron's uncle who has Lyme's disease. This sweet man has suffered for 8 years with this awful disease. Just over 5 weeks ago, he was unable to eat most things that all of us take for granted. His body would only accept certain kinds of seafood and a few different types of greens. That is what he ate for three meals a day. He was starving to death, weighing only 118 pounds. Yet, he always was positive, rarely complaining. This sweet man is SO much better today. He can eat many many things again. He can eat fruit, which he hasn't been able to eat for FIVE YEARS. He can eat grains, a food his body has rejected for months. He has gained FIFTEEN pounds in the last five weeks, and it is so obvious that he is feeling better. He has been unable to sleep right for years; he had cut holes in his mattress where his hips and shoulders would rest because they were so sensitive he couldn't stand to have the pressure on them. He has filled in the holes and can sleep normally again. His eyes are getting better: he said he has been able to go work in his shop for little bits each day. (He cannot tolerate sunshine and really cannot use his eyes much at all, they are so sensitive to light.) He has been able to walk and exercise. Oh, how we are all thanking the Lord. He has really turned things around for Uncle Brook and we get to share in the blessing.

What a great God I have today. Thank you, thank you, thank you for everything.