It is early Saturday morning, the sun has yet to rise and I am in my familiar position on the couch in front of my computer. After lying in bed for an hour I get up and make my way to the bathroom being careful not to trip over Sophie (or is that a pillow? My eyes ain't what they used to be) make a pot of coffee and take what will probably be one of the last quiet moments here to write.
Thanksgiving is upon us (again I ask, "Where does the time go?")and I am mindful of how appropriate the season is this year. Sam and I are getting ready to embark on yet another adventure (that is how we refer to change now) although we have been praying for it for the past few years. We are going home, more or less, to Chicago where the people are more recognizable, the weather is seasonal, and our Grand kids are closer. We can see our family more than twice a year. Instead of a grueling four hour plane ride, we can make it to Kalamazoo in about two and a half hours by car.
Getting to this place in our lives has not been easy. We have been pulled from the brink of financial ruin through the grace of God and the short-sale of our house. It has been a long and hard road, littered with daily calls to both financial institutions, whining and crying, and various other means of getting their attention. After what will be four long months when it is all over we will have reached the point where we can finally breathe.
Why am I telling you all this?(my Mother will be horrified)and after all we could just say it was a job relocation. But it is so much more. It is divine intervention. I know some of you out there (you know who you are, Steve) are rolling your eyes right now. But you tell me, is it just dumb luck? I think not. "For every time, there is a season" as scripture goes "and a time to every purpose, unto heaven". (Or something to that effect.) Please feel free to correct me. Really, I mean it.
We have been given a second chance, albeit late in life, to right our financial wrongs, get out of debt and quit living like the Jones family. We are taking it and running. This is just one of the things for which I am thankful.
I am thankful to the Lord and Leigh Anne for giving Sam a new kidney six years ago, so we could get to this stage in our life. I am thankful for the life-long friends I have made out here, and the beauty that is the Northwest. (How many of you thought I would ever say that?) The last five years have been a God given time-out for me. Lessons have been learned, tears have been shed, and joy has been immense.
This year at our table of Thanksgiving, the food will smell a little better, the laughter will be a little heartier, the love will be much deeper, and the gratitude for all we have been given will be infinite.
