A Week of Thanksgiving

This year, I am especially thankful for so much. I can't possible express it in one short day. So I will ramble on about all the things for which I am grateful for a few days.

This morning, I opened my eyes not to some dark and dingy hovel where I slept on the hard floor with only a worn coat to ward off the cold, but to a well heated, cozy, clean apartment where I slept in a comfortable bed swaddled in clean flannel sheets and warm handmade quilts sewn with love by my Mom.


I only had to walk a few feet to a bathroom with running water. How thankful I am for the hot steamy shower that massages my recuperating muscles. I have lived places where there was no running water and places where there was only cold running water, so I thoroughly appreciate an indoor facility with working faucets (no small thing considering nearly 3 billion people do not have access to clean water and proper sanitation, much less heated water)!


Gone are the days of braving the morning chill to prime a pump and fill a pail with enough water to heat on the stove. Gone are the days of scary smelly outhouses with their weathered wood and lack of privacy. No longer need I tuck two babies in the red wagon with a dozen plastic milk jugs of the gallon variety and hie down the road to the broken pipe jutting from the side of the mountain to get good water.


I am entirely blessed to have at my disposal a hot shower. The day can only get better from there. And indeed, it did. First, the chime choir played in the church service and did an excellent job. Then our accompanist, from Cuba, and her friend from the Honduras, played a concert of music from various South American and Latin American countries. Most of the music was unfamiliar to me, but thoroughly engaging.


The day ended with a service of thanksgiving at Pearce featuring readings from various Christians over the course of centuries, with prayers of thanksgiving, with joyful music, and best of all, I sat with my two sons who both took time from their activities to humor Mom, stepping aside to thank God and in the process wrapping me in the warmth of their caring.


How wonderful is that!