Giving Thanks

As Thanksgiving Day approached I looked back over the year and realized that this holiday would not be a time just to eat turkey, spend time with family, and say thanks for the usual things. This holiday is a bit more solemn because we have had seven hospitalizations in the family during the past year; each of my grandfathers have had two surgeries; my grandmother had an abscessed tooth that developed multiple complications and left her with a rash from head to toe, which she took pictures of because she thought no one would believe her. (I know this sounds strange, but if I had not seen the pictures I would not have realized how severe her reaction to the antibiotic was.) The first half of the year was my turn to have health issues and visit multiple doctors, and the second half of the year has been my sister's turn. My best friend called to tell me her grandfather was in the hospital with an abscess on his spinal cord and they did surgery a few days ago; another close friend's grandfather has been diagnosed with kidney cancer; and my dad coworker's daughter fell a week ago, and is now paralyzed, and she is only a year older than me. Sometimes I have to just sit down and have a good cry because I worry about my loved ones and this girl I do not even know. But I realize I have so much to be thankful for: my own health has improved and for the most part my grandparents are healthy; my sister is improving by leaps and bounds each day; and I have family and friends who have been there for me through the tough times and now I can be there for them.

There are two songs that I have taught my 3-year choir which talk about being thankful: "Thank You, God"and "Thanksgiving Day". I do not know any adult songs for Thanksgiving; I could sing you songs about turkeys and pilgrims but they are still children songs. The kids sure have fun when we sing them and they may not always understand the message, but it has certainly hit home for me this year.

I find myself singing hymns sometimes and the most common one is "Victory in Jesus"; I learned it when I was little. So many times now I have sung it without actually listening to the words, but the other day I was at home by myself thinking about my friends. I was remembering how scared I was when my sister was in the hospital and when my grandparents have been in the hospital, and I was getting ready to call them to say something encouraging. This song came to mind and as I sang it I really listened to the words. I was reminded that the lesson it teaches is something I have learned not so long ago: because Jesus one victory on the cross I can have peace of mind that He will take care of things here too. I wrote a paper recently and I quoted a journal entry of mine in which a basically stated that my chronic pain had not won but Jesus did on the cross. I think this must be why this song speaks to my heart and always comes to mind whether I am going through a difficult time or I am happy, since I do have victory because of Jesus.

My favorite hymn has to be "Great is Thy Faithfulness," another hymn from my childhood. I have often thought that I want this song sung at my funeral because not only has it been an inspiration and encouragement to me for many years, but it would be an encouragement to my family and friends. Both of these hymns talk about being thankful and realizing how much grace we have been given. Usually after the death of a loved one I sing this to myself as I go to sleep at night, and I have also sung it in other times of sorrow and crisis; but most importantly, I sing it when the crisis is over. I think at first I enjoyed this hymn because the music is so beautiful but then the words started to take shape and applied to my life so perfectly that I could not help but sing it. This Thanksgiving as we gather together as a family and as we remember those who live far away, we treasure our family and friends more that this year, I know I do. The gratefulness I feel does not comes just one day of the year, it resides throughout.