Happy Thanksgiving - blessings and thankfulness

 

A few of the blessings for which I'm thankful. It's hard to get our family together, much less to get a good photo of everyone. 

Part of the Zabel family

Our son Bob took this picture, which
shows Robert and me in the background,
Randy and our granddaughter Macayla on my
side of the table. Grandson Ryan is closest
to the camera, with granddaughter Keri
and Janelle facing Randy and Macayla.

                                                                                                      

Bob and Brenda

          I am thankful for the blessings God has given me. All my family cannot be together for Thanksgiving, but I'm glad to be with those I will see: Robert, Randy, Janelle, Ryan, Colby, Shane, Jackie, and Merrietta this Thanksgiving. Randy and Colby will be on crutches, but they are recovering from surgery.

          All our other grandchildren and children will be with members of other family branches, as will our great-grandchildren. I pray all will be safe and with loved ones.

          I pray all my friends and church family will have a day of blessings Thursday. God has given me so much, and though I may not always remember to give thanks, I am grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving

Today celebrates all we have for which to give thanks, and I have so many that I can't list them all. However, since I'm reading One Special Act by Debbie Macomber, I started a gratitude journal and add five items plus one praise to the Lord each day.

One praise I have, and a huge thank you, is God gave me a talent (well, more than one, but this one is special right now): writing. I've always liked to tell stories, and I don't mean fibs. I entertained friends and siblings, then children and grandchildren. I had excellent teachers who gave me the tools needed to write those stories and the poetry that ran around in my head.

Life hasn't always been easy, far from it, but everything that happened and happens can be used to build character, faith, and plots with vivid characters. Such is the situation concerning my new novel Stolen. Many people know the background of the plot in that novel: two grandchildren taken by their father. The twelve years they were gone, when we had no idea whether they lived or not or where they were, affected us deeply and gave me fodder for the novel.

However, that experience, although difficult and agonizing, now leads to a huge thanksgiving since both grandchildren are now back in our lives.

Hope everyone has a very good day this Thanksgiving season.

Want a book to give for Christmas? Let me suggest Stolen  as well as One Simple Act.

Of course 4RV Publishing has many selections for gifts for all ages. Just visit 4RV Publishing Bookstore.

Happy Thanksgiving

May your Thanksgiving and rest of the year be special and blessed. I hope everyone finds a list of things for which to be thankful. I have so many I cannot list them all, but I thank God for my husband, my children and their spouses, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren, my friends, and the people connected to 4RV Publishing.

I am blessed indeed.

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Happy Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for so much. Let me try to count my blessings. I say try because I know I won't remember them all.

1. Robert is still with me after nearly 47 years. Actually we've known each other for over 47 years, and in February will celebrate our 47th anniversary.

2. My three children are doing well. Rene's job appears stable and all five of her children are doing fairly well. Aiden, the three-year-old I've never gotten to met, loves the book Trockle. Bob has a job, after retirement, that he likes. His wife and girls are doing well. Randy teaches and coaches, which are his passions after his wife and boys. Janelle, Ryan, Colby, and Shane are blessings to Randy and to me.

3. For eleven Thanksgivings I had no idea where Faris and Meena were, or if they even lived. This year I know where they are, and even though I've had no contact with them since they were in Oklahoma in June, I hear about them from Rene, Macayla, and Keri, who do hear from them.

4. Macayla and David are expecting a little girl and have named her Haylee Rose - my fourth great-grandchild.

5. Jacque, my dearest friend, came through open heart surgery and is doing great.

6. I may not agree with how things are going in thi country or in this lifetime, but I know a better and glorious eternity awaits. However, I'm going to enjoy my life here and the people I love for as long as possible.

Happy Thanksgiving.


cross posted on Vivian's Site

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