Friendship is a Wonderful Gift

One of the biggest advantages I've found in the afternoon of my life is the blessing of friendship.  My dear sister-at-heart, Pam, gives me so much strength and encouragement...and has helped to inspire my creative side a bit.  We got together Saturday and I made some "quickie" cards from embellishments I purchased from a nearby WalMart on sale.  I also embellished one card with turkeys and leaves cut from my Cricut with the cartridge my precious friend bought for me!  I just love fall...love the colors...love the things start slowing down a bit...love the spirit of Thanksgiving that cannot be ignored (how I wish I didn't ignore it all the rest of the year...especially since I have so much to be grateful for).  The cards above are a sample of what I'll be sending out this fall...still have more to put together.

I've been pondering the things I'm thankful for and the list is too long to put it all here.  But there are some very notable things, I believe, that I must thank God for:

• The blessing of growing up in a Christian home where I learned to trust a never-changing, always loving, providential God.  I sat in a middle school science class today and heard a teacher say that a scientist proved that nothing can be created or destroyed.  He had "proof"...he said if he broke a piece of chalk, and kept one half, then he'd still have chalk.  And he said if he kept doing that, he could never run out of chalk...because he would always have half.  Then he walked halfway across the room and told the kids, "If I walk halfway to that wall from here (step, step, step) and if I do it again (step, step, step)...the truth is that I could never get to that wall because I would always be going only halfway."  He explained that the earth is here because the sun is really just an atomic explosion taking place...sending out atoms...that met together and formed all matter here on earth.  He didn't say this...but intimated...that the earth was not "created" but was formed from the sun's explosions.  And all I could do was sit there shaking my head.  I think it would take way more faith to believe that random atoms shot out, stuck together, and formed anything!!!  When I told my husband about his explanation, he asked, "So where did the sun come from?"  Very good question.  Thank You, God, for "creating" this beautiful earth and each of us!
• The blessing of family.  I buried my father late in September...and I'm sad to say I didn't get to say goodbye to him before he was gone (sigh).  But I'm just as happy to say that it's okay because I know, that I know, that I know, that I know that I'll see him again.  He modeled such a genuine and unpretentious relationship with Christ and passed that along to me.  Christ is my Savior...but so much more.  He's my Confidante, my Friend, my Conscience, my Protector...another list that could go on and on.  My mother has blessed me with a love for learning and an appreciation for beauty.  They both nurtured in me my love and talent for music.  But God didn't stop with godly parents.  He blessed me with a godly man as my life-partner.  I've not treated this man they way God wanted me to and I have great regrets for that...but he has forgiven me, restored me, and trusted me in ways I cannot understand.  He has helped me to raise children that weren't his...and loved them and cared for them and prayed for them.  He's a fine example of what a man of God should be.  And those special children that God blessed me with:  Andy, with his strength of character and passion for justice, LeeAnne with a strong independence that helps her succeed at almost all she touches, and Stephen, who loves and enjoys life in ways that make me envious sometimes.  These are not perfect kids...but they are wonderful kids and they have blessed my life with children of their own....my next blessing.
• Grandsons!!!!  Oh, the joy!!!  I have to list them separately because they are just a whole different kind of family.  They bring dance and music and giggles and joy by the bucketful to my days.  They charm me...they never once looked at me funny when I was bald-headed...then white-haired...then black-haired (okay...Holden did look baffled...but he loved me anyways).
• Friends.  How do I count them?  When cancer entered my life last year, friends came out of the woodwork to encourage me, to pray for me, to strengthen and uphold me.  I was overwhelmed.  It's funny...but that's the biggest thing I remember about my cancer treatments...not the pain...not the exhaustion...but the friends that were everywhere whenever I turned around.  I told someone, "I would have to fight God to get discouraged or down because He keeps sending someone to pick me up!"  I hope anyone who reads this will remember...it only takes a few words to lift someone up when they are discouraged...just tell them you love them and you're praying for them.  God will take care of the rest.  And I can't thank Him for friends without thanking Him for the "unknown" friends...those that "technology" have allowed to become a part of my life.  God's ways are not our ways...and He can cross our paths with people on the other side of the world if that's what He wants to do!!!
• My church family at Sawyer Evangelical in Bradford, PA!  Living so far away from home, my church family has become my extended family.  Pastor Brad Preston faithfully preaches and teaches the Word and challenges me to know myself so that I can make the changes necessary to come into agreement with God and His plan for my life.  His wife, Kim...she's just pure blessing.  So many wonderful couples offer fellowship that keeps our spirits up.  In times of need they have provided for us.  In times of discouragment they have lifted us up.  They have absolutely embraced Holden and his special needs.  I would not wish to be anywhere else!  I especially enjoy being with godly women who do not pretend to be perfect...who love me in my brokeness and failures...who set examples of holy living.  Yep...I'm very blessed.
• Music.  I cannot have a list of blessings and not thank God for the beautiful music that permeates my life.  His gift of the talent of playing piano...there's just no denying it was a gift designed for me!  Thank You, Lord!!!!

Okay...so I'd better stop.  This is way longer than I ever intended it to be.  Not sure anyone will ever see this, but it's a great way for me to see what's been going on inside my head.  Blessings to anyone who takes the time to read this all the way through!