Thanksgiving on Thursday...

It has been a wild and eventful summer, but I am so thankful that:

...my friend, Rachael's cancer 'scare' turned out to be much less

than any of us had dared hoped...

...even tho my daughter's physical struggle
turned out to be
Lyme,
the 'worst' of the
six things
 that we tested for
 and hoped it wasn't
going to be...
it means that I now
get to learn about infectious diseases
and I have the
blessed privilege of clearing my schedule
 of any extras
to just be home
tending to my daughter,
and finding
a place
of rest
in a God
who knows
the end
from
the
beginning.

That is not something I get to do every day of the year.
(clearing my schedule)

...my flowers have bloomed gorgeously in the cool summer 

and I have enjoyed their vibrant beauty on many a day

 when life felt heavy and hard to bear

...through physical and emotional weariness, there was encouragement 

when I least expected it, and sometimes from whom I never expected it.

In the midst of life's difficult moments,

God gives us love and friendship,

even from unlikely places sometimes.

...though I wondered at the direction of God this spring for me not
to have the large veggie garden I normally have,
I obeyed, and found out that He was very wise
 (I don't know how I would have physically had the strength to garden this summer,
nor where would have been the time to do so!).
I now know that God is able to do amazing things with 2 rows of green beans.
(talk about 65 quarts from two 50 foot rows! There would have been more,
 had we been able to get them all!)
 In cleaning the freezers last Saturday,
I also realized His wisdom in giving me a 'year of jubilee'
from preserving the harvest:
we have more than enough food in there that we shall not be 

afraid of the snow.

...I have a husband who is home for three meals a day
and who is home with us every night, 

and who holds me in his strong arms

every night as we drift off to sleep.

...My youngest daughter became a strong support to me through 

all the days of hosting company (5 out of town sets of company in 8 weeks), 

helping others, regular home making, and doctor visits. 

She unselfishly and uncomplainingly washed hundreds of dishes,

 learned how to do laundry on her own,

loved making yummy food for us,

cleaned and even organized things without being asked,

 baked and all manner of things that made my days easier.

 How shall I ever thank God enough for this gift???

(maybe I'll take her raspberry picking next week.

She says she would love that :-)

...there are answers when we pray, 

even though they are not always or even often 

what we would plan them to be.

And so, at the end of summer, I simply say:

Thank you, LORD, for your blessings on me.

It has been a summer of walking deeper in trust and confidence
that He will never leave me nor forsake me.
And that grief does not last in it's intensity for always.
There comes healing. And there is always fresh hope, with the rising of the sun.

I've been reading the Psalms and I am inspired
with how PERSONAL a God I serve.
Otherwise,
I do not think He would have preserved
all those prayers of relationship in His Word
for generations to read and know HIM.
I am overwhelmed with gratitude that
He would care about me,
to give me hope and life in the midst of struggle,
to call me away from the edge of the cliff
when I have been straying too close to it,
to give me grace and a peace that
passes all understanding
in this wicked, dark world we call home
until at last we see Him face to face
in our Home somewhere in the skies.

At the end of this wild, turbulent summer,
I am deeply grateful to KNOW Him,
the one, true God,
and Jesus Christ who He has sent.
And I am grateful to know His people
wherever they are found.

I wish for you a happy soon-to-be-autumn and love and blessings to all,
~Marcia