SAID NO ONE, EVER

At this Thanksgiving Season a lot has transpired.  Many Happy Thanksgivings have been said, many people have made a point to suggest things that they are thankful for while many others wondered what in the world there is to be thankful for and some skipped the day (even the week) altogether to go shopping. 

There is definitely a shift in what people are willing to be thankful for.  Many were thankful for love and family.  Many were thankful for the help of others in desperate times.  Many others were thankful for possessions and even a little, if not a lot, of prosperity in these tough times. Some were even thankful for having enough to give away, helping others who needed it more.  The truly wise were thankful to and for their God and all that He is and all that He does for us daily, hourly, minute by minute.

But there are some things that are very difficult to be thankful for, anytime of the year.  Some are very serious like a very sick loved one.  Others are fairly frivolous, like my own inability to say thank you for the fact that my heat is not working and it is very, very cold in my apartment… that may be a silly “said no one, ever.”

However, my mind went to dwelling on some situations I know of and I could not help but begin to make a list of serious “said no one, ever” situations and I thought I might share some with you here just to shake things up a little for some people who simply can’t see the damage they are doing to others by the way they live.  Come along with me and say to yourself “said no one, ever!” after these examples:

I am so glad that my mother drinks too much and beats up on my Dad and us in her anger…

I am thankful that my Dad is a drug addict and even sells drugs to keep us going…

I am grateful that my 17 year old sister has a 28 year old man taking care of her now even though he pimps her out to make a living…

I am thankful for the times like Thanksgiving when the family gets together, gets drunk, and fights all day…

I am so happy to get to listen to my parents rant and rave and threaten each other with harm… 

I love having chances to make excuses for my parents and why they can’t come to things at school…

I am thankful that my Mom drinks too much and forgets to come get me at school…

I am so grateful that my husband beats me because it means that he loves me…

I am thankful that my husband always comes home to me no matter what else he has been doing…

Personally, I can remember times when I was grateful that Dad wasn’t home because he and Mom were not yelling and screaming at each other.  My best friend and I decided where to spend the night on Saturday night by whose parents would be passed out first.  That was certainly something to be thankful for…

Did you happen to notice that most of these examples come from children?  I guess that is what started me down this road in the first place:  Knowing children who are living these circumstances right now because their parents just can’t seem to pull things together.

At this thanksgiving time, I am grateful to know one woman who has finally found the Joy in life without drugs and a freedom from hatred that had plagued her for several years.  She is finally enjoying a sober lifestyle with all her faculties intact.  She is finally able to hear what God has to say about life with Him and to follow those precepts with more clarity than ever before.  She was finally able to make the decision to put Him first in her own life for the sake of her children.  Praise God for how He is willing to work in any life to bring about the pure Joy of knowing Him and Loving Him and reaping the reward of being His. 

And how did this come about?  A decision was made to get out of town; to move away from the influences that plagued her and kept them riled up all the time.  Now they have new friends who love God and are sharing their own struggles with this couple who are living a whole new country life style that is fun and exciting to them.  May God bless them richly and may we all be active in praying for the same results in the lives of the lost and the wandering who are all around us.  Amen.