Today, as people all across America pause in their busy lives to give thanks, I have blessings beyond measure and my thanks are lifted up as I praise God for all He's done in my life this year. I just took a quick peek at my post from last Thanksgiving. Last November I banged out a post every day as part of NaBloPoMo. On Thanksgiving day, my oldest daughter was barely communicating with us. Our 2nd oldest daughter was living in Pennsylvania with her husband and our grandson. Our 3rd oldest spent Thanksgiving in Del Rio with her girlfriend and her girlfriend's family. Our youngest, my husband and I enjoyed a healthy, quiet meal at home. I spent some time reading. We worked on a puzzle. We were visited by a flock of cardinals.
This November I've banged away on the keyboard as part of NaNoWriMo. Today, I crossed the finish line - not the 50k word goal (I passed that last Friday) but the actual goal of finishing the novel. Yes, I did it. It took almost 69,000 words, but I can now proudly claim to have written a novel. What a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving! Giving thanks for the flow of words and the story I was able to tell.
But, better than that! (What, pray tell, could be better than that?) Last night at about 11pm our oldest daughter and her beau arrived. Today at 11am our 2nd oldest, her husband, his mother (the MIL) and our grandson arrived. They live across town so it wasn't the journey that made their arrival remarkable. It was the drama leading up to today. She called Monday to say they weren't coming (insert MIL drama here), then yesterday decided they were going to be here after all. At about 2:30pm our youngest daughter arrived with her girlfriend. We sat down to eat soon after 3pm. All eleven of us.
After a fantastic dinner, prepared by my wonderful husband, we settled down to watch "Up". A very enjoyable movie (other than the occasional tear-jerk scenes that caused me to cry, which caused my husband to announce that I was crying much to the delight of all. Glad to be of service).
It's been a good year for many reasons, but mostly because my faith has grown (continually seeking God's guidance), my knowledge has grown (almost finished reading The Bible in a Year, huge awakening comes with the awareness and insight), my ambition has grown (well, "shifted" may be a better word - I'm no longer interested in the corporate ladder), my relationship with my children had improved dramatically (even in the absence of drama). I'm as healthy as I've ever been - physically, mentally and spiritually (given my history, that's no small feat). I'm employed, yet able to pursue my passion (ahem, that would be "writing" in case you missed that subtlety).
I'm so happy I could dance. Or sing. Or fall on my knees, lift my arms and turn my face to sky and say "Thank you, God. You are awesome." Or all of the above.
What are you thankful for?
4 comments:
Rejoicing with you!!
I'll join you on your knees, praising, worshipping, adoring Him
@HisFireFly Bless you! Thank you for your support and encouragement throughout this month. I'm sure you heard my cheering as you crossed the 50k mark. I'm looking forward to swapping tales some day!
I tried this. Started behind schedule, pounded out about 20k, and then my inner editor returned unannounced and I floundered. It just wasn't working.
I'm so glad you finished. Something to be proud of . . .
@tcog Congratulations on making it to 20k! That's still remarkable.
I know what you mean about the inner editor. I learned that putting on headphones and playing loud music helped drown out the critic in me, who otherwise liked to pop in uninvited to spoil my party. That wily son-of-a-gun is back and just as bothersome as I start my next project. Grrr.
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