Each November I am kinda of ashamed to say that I get sick of Facebook because of the "Day ____: I'm thankful for ___fill in the blank____." And if she skips a day she will list all the days missed. I almost don't even look at Facebook because of it. Yeah, I know. I'm a scrooge in the making.
Even this year I have a bit of an attitude toward it, but not as bad. This is a little different for me because I have a lot to be thankful for. No, I'm not doing the daily post. But I do need to shout from the roof top how thankful I am, first of all, to be just be alive. It is by the grace of God that I am here and alive today. On August 23 of this year I went to the emergency room thinking I was going to be diagnosed with West Nile.Instead, I was diagnosed with TTP/aHUS. We had no idea it was going to be a rare blood disease and a 28-day hospital stay with indefinite on-going treatments and many long and short term side effects that would become our new normal.
During this 28-day stay God sent his angels to Keith and me in many different forms. First and foremost through caretakers for our children. Angie and Josh, his sister and brother-in-law, graciously took our newborn Aubri into their home without hesitation. They cared for night and day without complaint. Not many people would do that for you because one-month old babies are a ton of work!!!!! Keith's parents took care of Cooper, our three year old, the majority of the time. Bless their hearts. They had the most energetic one of the whole bunch. My cousin Michelle had him some of the time, too. The big girls were from here to there staying with Carolyn and Marty, Emily and Jason, Chris and Christy, and Keith's parents some, too. I am thankful for friends and family that I know I can count on.
God divinely placed these people in our lives at just the right time to ease my heart so that I did not have to worry if my babies were alright. My heart did not ache worrying if they were okay because I knew who had them. Don't get me wrong. I had my moments. But I did not have "days" because God had my heart. I'm thankful for a loving Father.
Then there were those who randomly showed up at the hospital room like Mark, Mrs. Wanda, Keith, Milton, Bro. Greg, and several others that just made our days a little brighter. Some came and stayed a while. Some came and stayed just a few minutes. Either way, we blessed and are very thankful they came and took the time to minister to us.
I was especially grateful when Mrs. Mary and Mrs. Jane came and prayed with me. See, before I went to the ER, I had to Keith I wanted to call Mrs. Mary and have her come pray with me. She is one of the greatest prayer warriors I know. So when she finally got to the hospital I was just tickled! I am so thankful for the prayer warriors I have in my life.
God blessed us financially as well. Keith was off from his job the entire hospital stay and then some and still some. God has met all our needs and I have full confidence that He will continue to do so long as we continue to obey Him and serve Him faithfully. He has sent friends and family, as well as complete strangers to help us. The needs are met in perfect timing...when co-pays are due, when medication is needed, when gas is needed. God is just good like that. He tells us not to worry about tomorrow. Stick to today because tomorrow will have enough trouble of its own. Ain't that the truth? That's all Keith and I can do at this point. We have learned to trust Him in all His ways. I'm thankful for a living God that provides for His children.
Oh, I could go on and on. I am so thankful for the staff at UMC from the top dogs to the janitorial staff. They were all great. I am thankful for blood donors. I'm thankful for homeschooling. I'm thankful for takethemameal.com. I'm thankful medicine.
Basically, it all comes down to this...I'm thankful for God. He alone gets the glory for this story. He is the One who orchestrated every second of it. Folks, when you sit down at the table (or when you go around the table and fix your plate like our family does and then go sit wherever you can), be thankful for those around you. You never know what is gonna come next. Say the "I love you's" today.
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