In all things give thanks!

Today unofficially started our Thanksgiving break! Tomorrow we have a 
few odds and ends to finish for school and we are picking up Rachel & Cody from Eastern... Yay!

It will be so nice to have everybody together under one roof for a couple 
days at least. 

Thankfulness is defined as being aware and appreciative of a benefit,
being grateful or expressing gratitude. It is easy for me in the day
to day struggle of life to forget my blessings... or to focus on the struggles instead of what we have.  

 It has never been easy to juggle doctor visits, fill prescriptions, 
make sure blood work gets done, etc. it is even harder while working... 
It is also hard to schedule around college breaks.

Yet we have come so far and I am truly thankful. It seems like yesterday
but 10 years ago Cody spent 10 days in the hospital the week of 
Thanksgiving. (We actually met the doctor who would become Rachel's
rheumatologist) And although some days now are extremely rough...
I am aware things could be so much worse.

I am thankful for Mike's cancer being in remission. For phlebotomists who
can soothe a nervous 11 year old and make an unpleasant item not as bad as it could be. I am thankful for heating blankets to take the chill of of stiff
joints in the morning. For doctors that call late at night after their own 
long days to put a worried Mama's fears at rest. For medicine that takes the edge off of pain and allows boys to play soccer and girls to dance.

I am thankful for the Lord's provision in a 1000 different ways. Mostly
I am thankful for a God who has proved Himself faithful time and time 
again even when I have been faithless.

November ....

"The wild gander leads his flock through the cool night,
Ya-honk!  he says, and sounds it down to me like an invitation:
The pert may suppose it meaningless, but I listen closer,
I find its purpose and place up there toward the November sky."~Walt Whitman

Early in the morning when I take Flip outside we can hear the geese making their

way south... and it makes me long for the Eastern Shore. It makes the days

of my youth seem not so distant in the past.

The funny thing about advancing in age, is that even though your body ages

your mind feels like it was just yesterday. The one plus that with age comes

wisdom (hopefully).

Now I see my oldest two children at the age I feel was not so long ago... and hope

that my husband and I have as parents instilled some of that wisdom so that they will not make some of the same mistakes we made growing into adults. Throw in a chronic illness and the vulnerability I feel at times is overwhelming ~ and it keeps

me on my knees. 

My own journey with STILL's has been arduous of late. The methotrexate does not 

seem to be very helpful except with a few nasty chemotherapy side effects. So it

looks like a trip to the rhuematologist is in order. The weather has changed and so 

has my schedule. I have a new client who's school is only 20 minutes away which is wonderful. Plus it's only 2 hours a day everyday. Which has allowed us to fall into a 

nice school pattern at home. 

Although school is going well a schedule change is difficult for my youngest so

we are in the adjustment phase right now~ add preteen angst to the mix and that the holidays are fast approaching. Some days are a boatload of fun {voice dripping with sarcasm}. 

I am hopeful and pray that Ephesians 1:6  which says I'm convinced that God, who began this good work in you,will carry it through to completion on the day of Christ Jesus will be manifest in each of there lives. I will have been there through it all to give Him the glory.

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