With Gratitude

 

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, (I know some of you are reading from other countries, but gratitude is universal, so feel free to join us in being thankful) and I wanted to pause to share some thoughts on the topic today.

            2024 has not been the easiest year we’ve ever lived. That might surprise some of you, because here in the land of blogging, things have looked pretty good – maybe even easy and fun. And certainly there has been much that has been good, easy, and fun. We’ve enjoyed good health, we watched so many beautiful sunsets, we went on some grand adventures, we’ve enjoyed the luxury of a warm and safe home, and we are very blessed with sweet friends who have been encouraging and supportive throughout the year. God has provided for our needs, and all of those things are wonderful blessings. We recognize them, acknowledge them, and receive them with deepest, sincerest gratitude.

            But intermingled with all the good, there has been a lot of hard.

            We grieved the loss of our sweet Braeya Jo. We knew, given her age and the decline we saw in her, that this goodbye would probably happen sooner than later, but that doesn’t make the moment of goodbye any easier. Eighteen years with her presence doesn’t make her absence instantaneously easy.

            We muddled through the unexpected projects at our house after experiencing water damage in the spring. Absolutely a first-world problem, but the weeks (months, really) of ripped up flooring, muddy yards, and then the weeks of repairing the neighbor’s yard that was damaged in the process took a bit of a toll on us. The outcome was beautiful, and we were dearly blessed with friends who pitched in to make it more affordable and less painful, and we are indebted to them for that. But the messy middle was…messy indeed.

            While we are so glad to have my parents living in the safety of their new apartment, we spent a lot of weeks helping plan on this end for them to move, driving to help them pack, doing the move itself, holding the post-move rummage sale, and then doing our best to help them acclimate to a new home and community. We are happy to do the part we’ve done (and my sisters have done just as much – maybe more!) to make this transition smooth, but every transition has its unwieldy parts, and this one was no exception.

            No one saw Mom’s heart attack coming and navigating that in real time and in the weeks after was an unexpected journey of the soul for me.

            I have not talked about this yet publicly at all, but I experienced a job change this year that is a whole story in and of itself. Perhaps someday the time will be right to talk more about that, but in the meantime, suffice it to say it was one of the most difficult parts of this year.

            The last few weeks have been more saturated with spiritual warfare than anything I have experienced in the last fourteen years. I have walked the house with my Bible in hand, praying, reading Scripture aloud, and doing my very best to not let the enemy get any kind of foothold in my life. Prayer warriors have surrounded and carried me some days when I simply did not have the strength to fight on my own.

            Our youth pastor said a service recently that our lives are like icebergs. Everyone sees the tip, but there’s much more below the surface than anyone could ever know. What a picture of our year. So much good and pretty floating by – but a whole lot happened beneath the surface, too.

            But here’s what I want to say about the hard: God is good. God is faithful. He has dried every tear, heard every fearful cry, and strengthened my weak knees. He has given me a rock-solid husband who has spoken truth to me, championed me, and helped me move forward through the scariest moments – including whitewater rafting.

            Every good moment and every hard moment have combined to make this a beautiful year. I didn’t see much of it coming, and I wouldn’t have personally chosen much of it, but all of it has made me stronger. All of it has shaped me. All of it will be useful to me going forward into what God has for me next. And for that, I am so, so grateful.

            Ryan, I am grateful for you. I remember a Thanksgiving Day fourteen years ago when I slumped in the Marion kitchen and told God I wasn’t sure how to be thankful when life was wrecked, and I saw no hope of it ever being any better. Eventually, a couple of years later, you arrived, and I saw just why God asked me to hold onto hope. You are my greatest earthly joy, and I couldn’t have done this year without you by my side. Thank you for being you and being here. I am so incredibly proud of you.

            And to you, dear daily readers: thank you for showing up in this space to read our adventures. You may not love every single day’s offerings, but I hope at least now and then, you find something worth tucking away and implementing in your life. Thanks for loving us, encouraging us, supporting us on the hard days (when they show), and for giving me a reason to put fingers to keyboard each day.

            Happy Thanksgiving!