Turkey Week

Thanksgiving has been a favorite time of year for our family. It has not always been that way. One year Ilene's grandmother who had been living with us (she was on hospice after having numerous strokes) passed away the night before Thanksgiving. Then an hours later Ilene's brother, who is a truck driver, had a vehicle accident on his way home. He was in a tractor/trailer and the other driver swerved in front of him and hit him head on. The other driver was killed instantly. It was hard to focus on what to be thankful for that year.

But for many years Thanksgiving has been a time when we do things together as a family and we have had many things to be thankful for. 

This year we have not known how to plan for Thanksgiving. Before our life journey took a turn, we had planned on getting away as a family to a cabin in the mountains. We wanted to spend the week in the quiet hills of Glorieta. Much of our family was planning on coming and we expected to celebrate all of the things we had to be thankful for.

A few weeks ago, in anticipation of Thanksgiving, Josh began asking for turkey. On Thanksgiving I usually get up early (after staying up late) to get the turkey in the oven. I usually get a 20 pound bird, and stuff it with cornbread stuffing. Often times I will try out some new recipe for either backing the bird or the stuffing recipe. We almost always have sweet potatoes with marsh mellows (for Sarah and I) and grandma brings green bean (with bacon) some one brings rolls and carrots, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce and a multitude of pies and desserts.

Turkey week snuck up on us this year. With Josh's health, we canceled the trip to Glorieta, and today I posted a "No Visitors" sign on the front door. Don't get me wrong, we all love visitors, we would love to have people over all day long, but as Josh's blood counts have dropped, we have had to follow the doctors instructions and limit visitors. 

In hopes of getting Josh to keep eating, this morning (I know it is still Monday) I got up and put a turkey in the oven. No stuffing, no green beans, no pie or green jello dessert, not even any sweet potatoes, just a 14 pound turkey with instant mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce.

(We do have some friends that have insisted on bringing us a Thanksgiving Dinner wherever we are on Thursday)

Josh ate as much as he could. He even enjoyed sitting up at the table with us, until he choked trying to swallow one of his pills and that was all he could take. He went back to bed to rest. He did eat a little more while in bed, but as I looked at him I could feel the anxiety growing. What if ..... 

That is one of those feelings we get when he sighs or coughs or stumbles as he walks. We hope for the best while keeping an eye out for the worst.

He doesn't have a fever today, we are checking his blood counts later today and trying to get him to drink more. But he is starting to get circles around his eyes and he is still skin and bone. His heart races when he stands up and his breathing gets rapid after he walks across the room.

So, what could we possibly be thankful for this year?

No matter what tomorrow brings, I am thankful for so many things. Even the journey we have been on over the last 4 months has shown us what is important in life. We have a God who protects and provides. We have family and friends who show us love in tangible ways. We have a community that has gathered around us and prayed for us and supported us through this difficult journey. I have a wife who loves me and children of whom I am proud of.

I hope that this year, sometime before Thursday, you can make a list of what you are thankful for, and share it with others. Send us a note of what you are thankful for this year. We would love to celebrate what God is doing in your life.

Lord willing, this week I will give you 5 ways you can be thankful. The first is "we can be thankful that God answers prayers." In Isaiah 65:24 God says:

I will answer them before they even call to me.

 While they are still talking about their needs,     

 I will go ahead and answer their prayers!

We have experienced answered prayer this year. Many times over, and have seen that God answers our prayers, sometimes even before we finish asking. And I am thankful for that.

Tomorrow we will look at being thankful for how God provides for our needs.