Thanksgiving

Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. I don’t. But it is one of those moments when I also wish to give thanks to the Lord. This site has a beautiful flash movie on Give Thanks Unto the Lord. This video of Don Moen version of Give Thanks also put me into the mood to pause, think and say thank you to Jesus.

I woke up this morning feeling exuberant. I only have about 30 minutes before I have to rush out to College General. But not problem for a superwoman like me. I have enough time to roast a chicken for lunch, prepare pancake batter for my husband to cook for my sons when they wake up and I eat my breakfast while reading the paper and drink coffee. I also have time to check my blogs, read the news, check my mails and even make a quick post about the news.

I have class today. On other days, I will be at the cancer hospital. The beauty of life is some of the patients whom I have known for several weeks or months often ask me what I had for breakfast, what I am preparing for lunch and things like that. They will enquire about my children and home. Sometimes, they only want a sense of normalcy when people chats about life and its mundane things. Those mundane things that we see as boring or useless are actually things a person will miss when they are in the hospital.

I know how I long for a sense of normalcy when my #4 son was in critical care. I hardly have time to warm my home sofa, no joy in feeling the comfort of home, lost my sense of existence because I was wrecked with worries and the minutes just tick ever so slowly.

And then, when the patients friends and ex-colleagues visit, they normally do not know what to say. At times, I wish to join in, give them a friendly whack on the back and ask them to bring the office gossips to cheer the patients instead of sitting there looking so uncomfortable. Maybe that’s what I will do one of these days when I see the visitors staring back and forth at each other. So, dear friends, remember never to treat your sick friends, colleagues and relatives like they are a piece of rag doll needing sympathy. They want dignity, the same kind of warmth you used to have for them and compassion, not pity.

So, dear friends, do give thanks for every little bit of life. You wouldn’t know when these simple things in life are robbed off from you. Things strike us when we least expect it. So, be glad, give thanks and acknowledge that the Big Boss up there is making sure you are having the things you need.

Today is one of those days when I squeezed my brain juice to the max. I rushed home from college, got down to finish preparing lunch. Give thanks for the convenience of kitchen gadgets. I was greeted by a very appreciative little 6 years old who said my fluffy pancakes are so yummy. Give thanks for such adorable son. Then, I had to finish a job that pays me a four digit figure. Give thanks for ‘give us our daily bread’. It is something I have never done but I know I won’t screw up too bad ‘cos I am I. Give thanks for the guts. And after that, I worked on my exam papers. I sent it and out it has been returned to me with very good marks and a congrats from Fr Huan for a well-written piece. That is also reason to give thanks because it shows my understanding of the faith.

Thank you, Lord.