Friday, November 16, 2007

Plenty to be thankful for this season



by Jennie McGhan
With Thanksgiving being less than a week away, I have found myself reflecting on the holiday in which we give thanks.
Some, like me, are grateful to God for the many blessings we have in our lives.
Others are just thankful.
I have been listening to the radio in my travels and find myself more thankful each day because there have been some stories on the station I listen to that are heart wrenching.
One lady, who is 25-years-old, wrote to the radio station that I listen to, saying she is thankful to have her husband alive. Not unusual by itself, but there is more. Her husband, also 25-years-old, recently collapsed from a heart condition he was unaware that he had. She wrote the story from his hospital room. He had been an average father and husband going about the mundane task of fueling up at the gas pump when he collapsed. Fortunately, those nearby called an ambulance and the man did not die.
This couple feels blessed and their story made me feel blessed. I know that I would be beside myself if something terrible were to happen to my husband.
There are others in this world who have children suffering from illness or poverty. The heartache around the world and locally touches me to the core.
I have three very healthy, full-of-life children. Each of them, all they can, try to please me on a regular basis. They are hyper, joyful, busy and sometimes they exhaust me.

But, overall, they are good children, and they are a blessing regardless of how tired they might make me.
Whatever complaints I might have about any one member of my family, I have had to step back and realize…They are a gift from God, and I could be facing worse than a screaming fit right now, if He hadn’t blessed me so much.

1 comment:

Christina Tarabochia said...

I HEARD that story. Which means we were connected by radio at the same exact moment!