So Much To Be Thankful For

It's Thanksgiving morning and before I write what I am planning I have to say that my husband is watching the football game and all of my kids, including Brayden (who is not quite two) are all singing along with the Star Spangled Banner...it's SO cute!

I don't talk about our family much, as in Bill's and my sisters and brothers and moms and dads. But I can count on the Thanksgiving holiday especially to bring all the issues we have right in our faces. We always have the problem of where to have Thanksgiving and the truth is we'd just rather go far far away and celebrate with strangers.

Last year we did skip town and it was wonderful. No stress, no family bickering, no one coming to dinner stoned, you get the point.

One major issue is my sister "B". She's struggled for years with drinking, drugs, eating disorders and relationship problems. I don't think she'd mind me sharing that with the world. She is very open about what she struggles with. Sometimes too open for my personal comfort!

So, on Sunday (I'm sorry if I'm skipping all over the place but as you can imagine there's a lot to this story) I was on my way to church to share that speech. It was the last day of hunting season so my husband had been tromping through the soggy forrest all morning and was meeting me at church. We were supposed to be there early and we were running late and of course I lost my keys, cuz that always happens when I'm already running late for something! I was irritated and yelling at the kids to get in the car, buckle up, etc. They were fighting with each other over who knows what in the back seat. I pulled out onto the road thinking "How am I supposed to go and stand up in front of the church and share when this is how my morning goes???"

I said a prayer that things would change and calmed down myself hoping that it would spread throughout the car. Then I decided to check my messages (I know, I try not to talk on the phone while driving, but listening to messages is different right?) and there was a message from my sister. She called to say that she's going to Teen Challenge and leaving as soon as possible!!!

Teen Challenge is actually for all ages despite the name "teen". It is a year long program which includes drug rehab, discipleship (it's a Christian organization), extensive counseling and eventually outreach. Rather than an 8% success rate like 21 day rehabilitation centers the success rate is much much higher. I'll have to find out what it is find out what it for sure, but from what I've heard, it's more like 80%.

So many seeds have been sown into B and that morning I was so beyond encouraged to see the glimpse of the seeds taking root. I was so filled with thankfulness by the time I arrived at the church.

B has a purpose and she's going to step forward in courage and allow God to lead her and prepare her for that purpose.