Thankful Thursday

I am late getting to my Thankful Thursday post this week, but I am here and I am thankful for that! I do want to give a shout out and send some love to our usual host and blogging friend, Rebecca Jo @ Knit By God's Hand, who is going through a rather rough patch and has taken a break from blogging. Love you friend and I'm praying you get relief from your pain soon.

That done, Thankful Thursday continues on, hosted for the time being by Jen @ Overflowing With Thankfulness. I'm thankful for her and her willingness to keep us connected.

Sometimes it would be easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day realities of life and not see nor appreciate and be thankful for the good things that come our way...especially when not all good things are big things. They can get lost, buried under the big things that eat up our time and energies. Those big things are often beyond our control and seem to consume our every waking thought and all of our energy, but I believe with intentional practice it's possible to train our thoughts to look for the blessings, those little patches of light, even in our darkest times. And if we can do that, then it should come much easier at other times.

So, this week, for today...

I am thankful I am here. Not just in this life, but here on the laptop in the blog world to be able to share encouragement with you and get encouragement from your lists of thankfulness.

I am thankful my laptop is working. I know it is winding down it's life, grinding slower and slower, but to this point it continues to serve me...even if it takes a while. Just this morning it refused to load, but a restart and lengthy upload of updates has it chugging along once more.

I am thankful for my new job and my co-workers, most of whom, are genuinely nice and truly care about the residents in our care. The interactions with these dear souls lost in a world of Alzheimer's disease and dementia fill my heart. It is a privilege to care for them and do what I can to make their days better. I am thankful for each smile or hug I receive.

I am thankful I made it through my shift last night, my first 3-11, which will be my regular shift. And I am thankful there is a good bit of down time to get off my feet during the second half...otherwise I am afraid I would not have been able to make it. The foot/leg pain has been an 8-9 on a scale of 1-10. Nothing I have tried (orthotic inserts, orthotic shoes, creams, ibuprofen, patches, and prayer) seems to make a dent. I am only working three days a week so usually have a day between to give my legs a rest, but next weekend is looming. Working every other weekend is a requirement and that will be my first. Two days in a row.

I am thankful that I was able to get through to my doctor and get an appointment for this afternoon to address the pain and see if there is a way to manage it that will allow me to continue with the job.

I am thankful the results from Tim's CT-scan were good. The lymph nodes that were enlarged (I did not know this!) have gone back to normal size and the cysts on his kidney, stomach, and somewhere else have not grown (I also did not know about any of these except the one on his kidney).

I am thankful for our daughter who has really grown up in the last couple of years and is getting a handle on her fibromyalgia and anxiety. She is doing much better at handling her kids and life and now the job, where she is flourishing! She finds time to help us out with yard work and even checks in on me when we work the same nights.

I am thankful, as I continue to see reports of shortages of all kinds of things on the grocery shelves, that we continue to have access to plenty of good quality, healthy foods. I have adjusted my thinking and ways of doing some things to work around rising costs and the absence of some things.

I am thankful for technology that keeps me connected to distant family, friends...and makes possible all of my internet friendships with people I'd never know otherwise.

I am thankful, too, that the same technology gives me access to infinite creative ideas, recipes, and information.

I am thankful for my relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I don't know how anyone survives this world without the love, strength, peace, hope, joy, and guidance that come from knowing them and having them in my life. The Lord is my anchor in all of life's storms.

I am thankful for "normal" summer temperatures in the low to mid 80's this week.

I am thankful for this life and all it brings, the good and the bad. It all works to God's purposes even if I can't see it. I trust Him for I know He has plans for me, plans to prosper me and not harm me, plans to give me a hope and a future. (Jeremiah 19:11)