Being thankful

Thanksgiving was Thursday. I spent it with my family and it was nice...sharing quality time. I have so much for which I'm thankful. Yeah...it's nice to have that turkey and dressing. But, for me, it's more than the food. I've said it before...that I think Thanksgiving should be given a chance. It seems to be forgotten. It's overshadowed by Christmas and I think that's sad. It would be nice if everyone stopped and took the time to remember the good things in life. I struggle with different things in my life and I seem to get caught up in them. But I have to remind myself of the wonderful things I have. A house over my head. Being able to buy food. Being healthy. Having such loving family and friends. Having a beautiful son and a husband who I love very much. I live in a country where I'm free. I have rights and I can express myself and not worry about being punished for those things. I guess we get caught up in the things that happen in our day to day life and we forget to look at the big picture.

I experienced something on Thursday that touched my heart. For me, it was a sure sign of God's work. S. and I went to church with my family. There wasn't children's church so S. had to sit in church with us and listen to the entire service. Well...you can imagine a 6 year old doing that. He actually did really well until he noticed his cousins who had snuck in with my sister-in-law and brother. S. went from being mostly good and quiet to being VERY excited. My niece and nephew moved to sit with us and somehow my nephew ended up sitting next to S. BAD thing! S. went from good and well-mannered to loud and fairly out of control because he was so excited. It reached the point where I had to take him out of church and into the parish hall. I sat S. down and asked him what did he think he was doing. I asked him what happened to his good manners. I explained that people were trying to listen to the sermon and the prayers and music. I told him it was rude, disrespectful to do that. I told S. that I understood that he was excited to see his cousins...that they'd be playing all afternoon. I asked him to be considerate...to let the folks in church hear what was being said...to let them enjoy being in church. All of a sudden, we hear a "Happy Thanksgiving." I looked over and there was a woman....she was about 40 years old...I think. She was in a wheelchair and it was obvious that she was struggling with life. I know she attends St. Mary's. I've seen her around. I just didn't know her name....I've never spoken with her. (We never go to the hospitality hour after the church service.) She came over and told S. that he had a lot to be thankful for. She told him that she doesn't have any family. That she didn't have anywhere to live....how much she struggles with life. S. got very quiet and listened to her. She told him that he was lucky to have a mother who loved him so much...that he was lucky to have family and the good things he had in life. I turned to S. and said, "Do you understand what she's saying?" And he nodded his head. I could tell that her words were sinking in and affecting him. She asked if he wanted a hug and he got all shy and shook his head. She said, "No? Then how about a high five." S. got up and went right over to her and high fived her. I asked if he was ready to go back into church and he said yes. I turned to her and said, "Thank you." She said, "I didn't mean to interrupt." And I said, "No. You did NOT interrupt. Thank you." I asked her if she was coming back into the church...to the service. She said she wanted to finish her coffee...to leave the door from the parish hall open. S. and I went back in and sat down...in a different pew. I didn't want to put him right back into a place where he'd be sitting next to his cousin and be tempted to get carried away. We have this thing in our service. We do the peace. It's where the minister says, "The peace of the Lord be always with you." And the congregation says, "And also with you." Then we all turn and shake hands and hug our neighbors. I got up and went to the gal in the wheelchair and I hugged her. I told her thank you again and she told me her name. Tiger Price. We all sat down and the service continued. After the service was over, I told my mom what had happened and she told me that Tiger struggles with drugs and other things and that sometimes they have problems with her. I said, "Well...she's wonderful. She gave us a true gift." I watched S. take his cousin over to meet Tiger. They talked with her for quite a while. As we were leaving, S. turned to me and said, "Mommy, I took L. over to meet my new friend." As you can imagine, I got all weepy. See? God at work? Yes. Tiger is an angel. You can tell that life has been so hard for her...on her and yet...she reached out and shared. She reminded me of how God works...how he brought Tiger to St. Mary's and how she made such a difference in S.'s life...in my life. I didn't know her before Thursday. As I said, I'd seen her there. But now, now I know who she is and you can bet...from now on...I will talk with her...I'll hug her. I'll remember what she did...how she touched me...us...and I'll thank her over and over for her gift.

Yeah...I'm thankful for the things and people in my life. But I'm thankful for experiences like the one with Tiger Price. I'm thankful that God brings such gifts into my life.

Thank you.