Clarity Leads to Thanksgiving

The past few years have given me clarity. The result? Thanksgiving. Usually thanksgiving is a result of having more, but I do not have more. Actually it is the opposite because I have less. Or we are thankful because life has gotten easier. If anything, life has become harder. And so during this challenging time of less and difficulties, I have learned to value the valuable things and to forget about the cheap things. And I am still learning because GOD continues to remind me of what matters.

My role at Albany Hospice has helped me see more clearly and distinguish between the cheap and the valuable. Talking to bereaved parents has caused me to hug my sons a little longer and tighter. Spending time with husbands who are grieving their wife's deaths has made me more appreciative of my wife (and dreading the day I may sleep alone). Unemployment rates approaching 10% has made it easier to appreciate the opportunity to get up every day and go to work to provide for my family. Listening to nurses report on patients who can't stand anymore has made me thankful for 2 strong legs and 2 healthy lungs (as well as all the other body parts that allow me to walk). Listening to news of rampant home foreclosures has made me grateful on the one hand that I can pay my monthly mortgage. On the other hand, I am also grateful that I have not attached the meaning of my life to things like houses or cars or clothes. Reading that 18 million Americans suffer from depression makes me grateful that I can laugh and cry, that I can feel joy as well as sorrow. And the list could go on for a very long time, but I will spare you.

Yes, the losses of others have made me thankful for that which I still have. This time in life has given me clarity. You know how people say, "Well that really hit home." It just seems like lots of things have "really hit home" for me this year and it has made me grateful for a GOD that I know loves me and directs my steps in His way. Regardless of what happens, I am continuing to trust Him - day by day. And that is another thing for which I am grateful – I still trust Him.