Praise the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all His benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your
diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and
compassion.
~ Psalm 103:2-4
Let me
state the obvious…it’s Thanksgiving week. I have been following a lot of
friends on facebook who are posting each day this month something they’re
especially grateful for. I thought about joining them, but knew I probably
wouldn’t follow through. So I decided to just enjoy everyone else’s posts and save
myself the guilt of not accomplishing yet another task on my to-do list.
But today I want to share something from
my heart that I’m especially grateful for.
A little over a year ago, on October 25th,
2011, my dad had surgery for lung cancer. We didn’t know what the outcome would
be and were very concerned because he’d smoked for 50 years prior to his
quitting 12 years ago. (Yes, that means he was eight when he started smoking!)
He also has leukemia. Thank goodness it’s the best kind you can have, according
to his doctor. But it was still another factor to consider when looking at his
treatment.
As my whole family and many friends sat in
the waiting room and prayed for my dad during the surgery, I was overwhelmed by
the love shown to us. There were many phone calls checking on dad’s progress
and assuring us of their continued prayers, lots of visitors giving hugs, and
even an especially thoughtful gift given by the ladies from my church of a
goodie bag filled with fruit, candy, bottled water and a Chick-fil-a giftcard.
They didn’t want us to have to worry about finding change for the vending
machines. That right there is a ministry in itself for those sitting hours in a
hospital waiting room. It comforted me and my family to know others cared
enough to take time out of their day to minister to us.
After a very long surgery we were relieved
when the doctor came out with good news. He felt they had gotten all the cancer
and it was confined to one lung. They took out a large portion of that lung and
said it would take him a full year to regain most of his strength.
Several weeks later it was confirmed that
he was completely cancer free and wouldn’t need any chemo or radiation .We were
amazed by God’s grace and mercy.
It was hard during the last year to watch
Daddy go from being a strong and healthy man to one who was weak and struggled
to walk any amount of distance without getting winded. But now he is strong
again, back to doing all of the yard work and carpentry he has always loved.
The past year has been a difficult one for
our family, especially my mom. Other than dealing with my dad’s cancer, last
March her only brother died unexpectedly and less than two months after that
her mother passed away. So I’m sure this upcoming holiday season will be
difficult.
But we are grateful for those who are
still with us, especially my dad. I know it could have gone the other way, and
I praise God that He’s not finished with Daddy yet.
So this Thanksgiving I want to say how
grateful I am to God for my dad’s recovery and also for all of the loving
friends and family who have supported us over this last year. You are
definitely a special blessing to our family. May God bless all of you with a bountiful
Thanksgiving, full of His love and grace.
Sometimes we don't realize the depth of our blessings until the storms hit. What a beautiful praise of thanks to the Lord! Carol, I hope you and your family have a very blessed and joyful Thanksgiving! Love you...
ReplyDeleteThank you Cathy. Love you too and hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Carol. I'm so glad your dad is doing what he loves. That definitely is a gift from God!
ReplyDeleteI know Carol. We are certainly blessed. Thanks for stopping by. Have a great Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteSo glad your Dad is doing so well! Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI love your writings Carol. How do I get on your list?
ReplyDeleteLove,
Margie Houmes
Hi again, Margie!Glad you dropped back by :) You can subscribe to my blog by putting your e-mail address in the box at the top right of my website or click the button below that says subscribe by e-mail. Please let me know if you have any trouble with it.
ReplyDeleteHave a blessed week!