Full and Drunk

The time since I last posted has intermittently gone faster and slower than a slug in molasses. I've been sick enough to loose 12+ years of weight gain and recovered enough to get back six of those years. My church and other family has helped us through sick weeks off of work with meals, money, visits and most of all prayers. You can look at how they have taken care of us and get a glimpse of the face of God.

And right now I can look out the window and see the hospital a few miles away where I spent a recent week. That was a week of slugs swimming in molasses. I'm much more comfortable viewing it from the outside. From this angle the sun is dipping low, creating blues and greys and hints of pink. Dinner is finished and now we relax, my bride is to my right and my son to my left, contentedly sucking his thumb and rolling the silky edge of his blanket in his fingers and watching Curious George. I taste a bit of rye on my tongue and after breathing in to feel its spicy bite I sip an anise liqueur.The flavors are very different but I find them highly friendly. I am enjoying life with a different perspective.

I am full.
And I am drunk.

Not full of food nor drunk on the adult beverage in my cup but full of thankfulness and drunk on the richness of the last week. My first week back to a full schedule in seven weeks. The kind of work that invigorates in the way it strips you down to a tired core. A start to the weekend with friends. Friends who we have great discussion about eternal things with and I so badly want to join the Christian family. (It's good to be His, now get on board!) Another friends daughter who stayed the weekend with us while in town visiting with her soon to be husbands family. It has been exciting to see her grow from baby to lady. It doesn't make me feel old so much as enriched to have been a part of her families life.
My cousin and two of her daughters came over on Sunday, bringing my Grandma and Grandpa who I haven't seen in probably 10 years. More than anything I was excited to see them. My mom and her mom have always been on the outs with each other and I didn't know my grandparents well growing up. I don't know what to think of their disagreements but they don't concern me anyway. My grandparents are my Grandparents. We caught up, but not enough to our satisfaction, and we'll have to see them again soon.
When they left I felt immensely heavy hearted even through the high of the renewed relationship. I wished that several other family members could be there to experience that joy. To feel so thankful for the kind of work that God can do through people who are not brought down by bitterness but lifted up in thankfulness. Sadly bitterness, unforgiving hearts and a lack of gratitude will keep their bearers away from real connection with God and man. My wife and I fight against that in our lives. I can look to my Dad as an example and we are surrounded by a church that promotes thankful living for God. By the Grace of God the legacy we leave for our son will be to live that way.
And only by His Grace and good work in our lives will it be possible.
It is a good day.

Thanksgiving Thankfulness

Most everything I blog about is an edited or expanded version of notes I keep in a couple little notebooks I always have on hand. Sometimes its an idea I've entertained for a long period of time in a notebook and then gets a rough draft here that sits for several weeks or several months. Off the top of my head I can only think of a couple of posts that went from concept to blog without sitting in Draft Purgatory for some amount of time. There are at least three sitting there right now waiting for me to purchase some indulgences.

But one thing I can write about without draft (and can't seem to sleep without writing about now) is the things I am thankful for.
I learned a lot about being thankful from people who have much less than you or I. Really those are the kind of people that are typically the most thankful. I mean, look at us Americans. We can wallow in our wealth and complain that we don't have enough. But those who have little are often hugely thankful for the little things. The Ukrainian people are the ones that taught me much about appreciating little things as well as the big ones. Though I have a lot to improve on I can remember some of those lessons from 18+ years ago. I learned to be thankful (and rightfully ashamed) for having enough clothes and possessions in my dorm to make a mess. The Ukrainian kids in our camp didn't. I learned to appreciate that the soles of my shoes still stuck to my shoes and that glue could hold them together when that no longer became the case, instead of throwing them out. A not so little thing learned was to appreciate the country God gave me and the value still of other countries and cultures.

It's good to be thankful for the things that make us uncomfortable, because they are God given opportunities to grow. I'm thankful that right now I find no real joy in working for my current employer. Yes, really. It's helping me to see some flaws in my character I would have been blind to otherwise. And it is helping me to work on my patience. And another place of employment. And it makes it even more fun working a part time job with some really fun people.

Its late and my list is endless so here is some things I would put into my "Big" things  to be thankful for: My wife. It hasn't always been easy but its always been worth it. I couldn't ask God for anything better than spending my life with her. And yet He gave us something to be thankful for together too, our son Ethan. What a delight! I'm thankful for the roof over our heads and how it worked to live here. For my Dad and step mom, Aletha. They are an endless blessing and encouragement. For my in laws. Most people have horror stories for mother in laws. I don't. I'm glad Ethan will have good examples from both sets of grandparents.
I'm grateful for friends that let you borrow a vehicle for over a year and a half and think you have done them a favor. And I'm thankful that that vehicle was a Jeep Rubicon Unlimited. If you aren't a Jeep person that is the equivalent to handing the keys to your top of the line Mercedes over to somebody and saying "Take care of my car, I'll be gone awhile". Thanks Eric and Leah. We owe you, not the other way around.

I'm thankful for a son that says "Papa,hup" when he needs help.

Some small things, and these things are very small and unnecessary to living but that's an even better reason to thank God: I'm thankful for milk. I'm an adult but I like milk. Its the best beverage after a long day at work. Don't laugh. I'm thankful I can read. And for good, really good books. Campfires in the cold. And cigars to smoke. And whiskey to share with friends. I'm thankful I can blog from a "notebook" and not a phone anymore. In any list of thanks I'm thankful for my Jeep. Many guys have had to sell their "dream car" to be responsible men. They are good men. I have been fortunate that no one wanted mine when it was for sale. Hopefully it will be Ethan's someday.

We have so much to be thankful for in this country. We need to exercise our thankfulness while we have so much to be thankful for because we are coming into an age where those things will be harder to find. Always give thanks to God.