Thanksgiving! Wow. Wasn’t it August, yesterday? 2017 is quickly winding down and I find myself looking back and wondering where it went. This year I think I will write myself a letter. In it I will write out what I am thankful for and what I accomplished or could have done a bit better in 2017. Then I will turn my attention to what lies ahead and write out dreams and goals for the coming year. At the end of next year I will reread the letter so I will have better perspective on how things went and where I want to go from there.
Isn’t this a great idea? Since this is Thanksgiving week what a perfect week to get started on all I am thankful for in this season. If I get started now writing the letter won’t be so daunting when the 1st rolls around. I find any time I do any thinking or writing, if I begin with what I am thankful for the words begin to flow and the harder things I’m dealing with diminish a bit in the glow of what I have been given.
One of the greatest things standing out the most to me right now is the gift of friendship. I enjoy having a lot of people in my life, the variety provides perspective in a way nothing else can. I have a very special friend who went to be with Jesus this past week. She lived a long, full life and was dearly loved by her family and friends. She shared my love of reading and at 80 years old was over at my house cleaning with my besties when I was in chemo two years ago. She was very strong and never complained. She liked to hang with the girls and have a glass of wine or two but never wanted to be a burden or in the way. She was neither of these things. Instead, she was a delight to be around and was smart, kind and funny. She will be greatly missed.
I am grateful for is the gift God gave her daughter in her last hour of life. My friend was never one to discuss faith and although her daughter and friends had tried over the years to be an example of Christ’s love for her, we were never quite sure where she stood. The daughter prayed and God answered her prayer. He allowed an exchange to happen in a small but notable way that gave the daughter enough peace to know that God had intervened and was going to take her mother home to be with Him. As hard as it is to say goodbye, there is peace in being given the assurance of where she is now and I can’t think of anything to be more grateful for right now than this. There is beauty in the midst of the pain. I dearly wish there was no pain but I am grateful for the beauty.
As you gather with your family and friends this week, focus on the beauty. Find the good in the midst of the hard. Take a deep breath, look at all you have been given and be grateful.
Nutcracker 2017
Have A Wonderful Thanksgiving My Friends!
and read it to yourself on the last day of 2018. I loved the idea of writing down all my hopes, dreams, goals and things I am thankful for and to have something tangible in my hand to see how much I a
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