In Everything Give Thanks
By Claudia Bailey Honeycutt
I’ve witnessed true love in the sweetest form this weekend. Without going into grand detail, we have had a sick parent. Very sick. Truly, that’s what our last couple of days have consisted of. Every minute of them. Ambulances, sleepless nights, worried sick moments. Hospital stays, IV’s, humbling experiences as a family. Reality. Panic. Terror. Yet, thankfulness. Thankfulness for the togetherness. A perfect example of how Facebook is a funny thing, again. Truly, we’ve been overwhelmed by our whole situation. It’s way far from being over. Pointedly, it’s been left off social media. Likely, it will continue to be. This is a story about life. REAL life.
I’ll share this though. I’ve been once again reminded of the goodness of God. The goodness of humanity. The frailty of life. The realization that one second can change your entire focus. One phone call. We’ve been honored by the kindness of strangers. The gentleness and compassion of caregivers. Precious…. is the word I’d use to describe the parent who was the caregiver. Precious…. is the word I’d use to describe the parent who was the patient. Our family came together so fast, so lovingly, so protectively to do what needed to be done, at the moment in which it needed to happen.
If you know me, even fractionally well, you know I choose to leave the negative off social media. Usually, I leave it even out of the basic conversation, period. I choose to share the smiles, the sweetness, and the blessings. That’s just me. It’s there, all of it. No fabrication at all. But there is also a whole other side spinning. Always. Makes me very aware that there is so much more to life than what’s “posted”. For all of us. Some of us share funny stuff. I have friends that share awesome hunting and fishing experiences. Some share our prayer requests and our hurts. Some share what was for supper, or where we are shopping. Some share the things that make us mad and point out everything negative we can…..Some of us share WAY TOO MUCH.
Simply put. The bottom line is this; Every person you see is facing a lot. Always, a lot. Life is never entirely as it appears. Ever. There’s good. There’s bad. There’s easy. There’s hard. We should be keenly aware that families face a lot together. A lot more than fun days, trips to amusement parks and beaches, date nights, ballgames, hunting trips, etc. Thank God for the good. There’s also some very intense hard out there. We all deal with it. How much we choose to share, that’s our choice. But let’s do remember to offer up a little extra kindness. A little extra goodness. A few extra prayers when we can. We need each other’s support and encouragement. We don’t thrive on rants and negativity. None of us will make it through this thing called life without solid friendships, and a good support system.
Our Thanksgiving was different. There was much to be thankful for. So much. There was also much to be prayerful about. One second can change everything as I said earlier. Let’s be aware that we are all facing change. Everyday. If it hasn’t come yet, hold on, It’s coming. Today, I crammed every second full, for sure. That’s totally my nature. We loved going downtown and seeing what’s happening in Spruce Pine. We found an awesome red hat, and I had a ball wearing it. I love our small town, and all that small towns stand for. There’s a genuine community here, and I love it. We went grocery shopping, in a big way. Restocked the cabinets from the last 8 weeks of just trying to survive. The Spiralizer came today. I had to laugh and thought it was a fitting time for it
. We enjoyed baby time, family time, and David and I even figured out how to go on that hot date we’ve been trying to make happen. But there’s been more. A ton more. More that’s not been pleasant, or full of smiles or giggles. I’m sure all of us had that same kind of day. If yours was heavier on the hard side, I’m sorry. My heart is with you. If you had a great day, I’m happy for you. Thankful for the good. Even thankful for the hard, because the hard days make the good days even better.
