A Month of Thankfulness: Day Sixteen

I had another doctor's appointment today. This one was to check my blood pressure. Way back before my thyroid cancer reoccurred and my hip bursitis was diagnosed, my primary care physician had put me on a prescription non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug for what she thought at the time was arthritis pain. I had some negative reactions to that drug including high blood pressure...or so we thought. After being off of it for some weeks, my blood pressure did not return to normal. My doctor had me get a blood pressure cuff and check it at home for the last month or so. It seemed fine and today was the big day to return to the doctor with my record and the cuff so that she could check it for accuracy. And it is accurate! It seems that I have some "white coat syndrome" going on but no real hypertension! I didn't think I was nervous at the doctor's office, but...how many doctors for how many medical problems can you see without a little bit of concern that there is another one going on? Today, I am so very, very thankful to God for normal blood pressure!

Please join in the thanksgiving at Rebecca's. The joy of it is contagious!

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Fifteen

My special gratitude to God today is for the prayers of friends and family. I was amazed by the comments expressing prayerful concern in response to my thankfulness post of yesterday. I have bloggy friends who are praying for me! I also have some very special friends in real life (you know who you are) who are lifting me up in prayer these days. There is my church family who prays for me. And my "real" family, of course. I am blessed indeed!

To see what others are thanking God for this Lord's Day, visit Rebecca and join in our celebration of His good gifts.

Sunday's Hymn: Forever Settled in the Heav'ns

For ever settled in the heavens
Thy Word, O Lord, shall firmly stand;
Thy faithfulness shall never fail;
The earth abides at thy command.

Thy word and works unmoved remain,
Thine every purpose to fulfil;
All things are thine and thee obey,
And all as servants wait thy will.

I should have perished in my woe
Had not I loved thy law divine;
That law I never can forget;
O save me, Lord, for I am thine.

The wicked would destroy my soul,
But in thy truth is refuge sure;
Exceeding broad is thy command,
And in perfection shall endure.

Psalm 119:89-97, The Psalter, 1912
Tune: Duke Street, John Hatton, c. 1793

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Fourteen

As I slip further into hypothyroidism in preparation for my scan and treatment, I am experiencing more and more of those unpleasant symptoms. The temperature has been almost 60 degrees F. this afternoon but I am really cold. So I am thanking God today for warm clothes and hot tea. They both feel like my personal blessings right now.

What good gift are you thanking God for today? Please share and join in the thanksgiving at Rebecca Writes.

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Thirteen

I'm thanking God today for our public library. I am one of many book lovers in our corner of the blogosphere and I love having lots of them at my fingertips on the bookshelves at the cottage. However, there really is limited space here. Plus I am not so fond of dusting that I want more stuff to dust and dust around. And some books are interesting but once I read them, I find I really don't care to own them. I want the books that I own to be the ones I refer to often or the ones I want to be able to lend to someone or the ones that impacted me so much that I am sentimental about them. So there are many books that I am thankful to be able to borrow from the library to peruse and then let them go back.

Rebecca is hard at work collecting our thankful thoughts each day of this month of November. Thanks, Rebecca!

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Twelve

Andy took the day off today. We had some business to attend to in the morning but after that, we went out to lunch. We went to a place called Wildfire and used a gift card that his boss gave him last year for Christmas. This boss has already approved our fishing vacation time for next spring. He's so much more reasonable and fair than Andy's old boss. So today I am thanking God that Andy has a job, a good job, to take a day (or a whole vacation!) from and that he has a boss who treats Andy with respect.

To join in the thankfulness this month, visit Rebecca Writes. Its good to give thanks in all things!

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Eleven

I saw my orthopedic doctor today for a follow-up visit on my hip. I thought he might give me another cortisone injection for the bursitis but he didn't. His opinion is that a lot of the remaining limp and pain (and it is less than it was) is due to weakened muscles on that side because of favoring it for so long as well as that my whole pelvis is making the adjustment to a heel lift in my other shoe. So he prescribed some additional physical therapy which I start next Tuesday. I see him again in six weeks. I am thankful today for a doctor I've come to like and trust. When I saw him first, I was "guardedly optimistic." He's young, not much older than our daughter, Emily, and rather reserved. But, I told myself, he must be up on the latest techniques being so recently out of school. And maybe he's more enthusiastic than the "seasoned" crowd. Today, he really listened to what I said, never making me feel like there were lots of other patients waiting for him (there were) and patiently explained why we are pursuing the treatment course he's prescribed. His rating went up in my book and I am thanking God for His provision for me in this young man.

Please share what you are thanking God for this day over at Rebecca's. Its a gift to us all.

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Ten

This morning, I've been preparing for the study of Revelations that I'm doing this year and which meets every Tuesday evening. This study is in addition to the rich study of Hebrews that my dear friends, Kim and Carol, and I are now into our third year of. I just took Charlie out for a short walk and I was thinking about how thankful I am for the opportunities I've had to study God's Word over the years in an organized way with women...and sometimes men too...that were serious about knowing who God really is and drawing closer to Him through that knowledge and understanding. I'm thankful for the way He continues to refine my understanding of Him and His truths and increase my freedom in Him as more and more old thoughts, thoughts I didn't even realize I had until they fell away, were revealed as bondage.

¹⁶But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
2 Corinthians 3:16-17

Visit Rebecca to share in the thanksgiving each day of this month of November.

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Nine

I am thanking God today for the successful washing of a coat that I love which is labeled "Dry Clean Only" but for which I could not justify the cost of dry cleaning. I got that coat several ago at a rummage sale for $3.00. Its so neutral that it goes with everything and its roomy enough to fit over bulky sweaters. Plus it has a hood, a feature I will never buy another coat or jacket without. I've gotten many years of use out of that coat and it had become a bit dirty. The fabric content is polyester and nylon so I took a chance. And it came out unscathed! And clean! Praise God!


Rebecca is gathering our thankful thoughts each day of this month of November so that we might share in the celebration of God's good gifts. Won't you join us? The blessings are multiplied for all.

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Eight

Its the Lord's Day today and I am thanking God for the opportunity to worship Him freely and openly. We still enjoy that freedom in this country and its a freedom that ought not to be taken for granted. I pray that we never do.

To see what others are thankful for this day and to share your own thankful thoughts, visit Rebecca and be uplifted.

Sunday's Hymn: By Grace I'm Saved

By grace I'm saved, grace free and boundless;
My soul, believe and doubt it not.
Why stagger at this word of promise?
Hath Scripture ever falsehood taught?
Nay; then this word must true remain:
By grace thou, too, shalt heav'n obtain.

By grace! None dare lay claim to merit;
Our works and conduct have no worth.
God in his love sent our Redeemer,
Christ Jesus, to this sinful earth;
His death did for our sins atone,
And we are saved by grace alone.

By grace! O, mark this word of promise
When thou art by thy sins oppressed,
When Satan plagues thy troubled conscience,
And when thy heart is seeking rest.
What reason cannot comprehend
God by his grace to thee doth send.

By grace! This ground of faith is certain;
So long as God is true, it stands.
What saints have penned by inspiration,
What in his Word our God commands,
What our whole faith must rest upon,
Is grace alone, grace in his Son.

Christian L. Scheidt, 1742
Tune: Aud Gnaden Soll Ich Selig Werden, Justin H. Knecht, 1796

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Seven

I am thankful for Indian Summer. Indian Summer in North America is generally defined as a period of warm (at least 70 degrees F.) weather in the period of mid-October to end of November following a killing frost and preceding the first snow fall. I thought we might not make it to 70 degrees but we're already there today and tomorrow's forecast is looking quite similar. I'm especially grateful that this Indian Summer waited until most of the leaves have fallen and been raked up. That way we could (and did!) enjoy our long Charlie-walk without any feelings of guilt about unraked leaves. And it came on a weekend too! If we can squeeze it in, we might even take the canoe out this afternoon! Oh, thank you, God!

I wonder what everyone else is thankful for today. Rebecca is hosting our month of thankfulness and its been such fun and increases my own thankfulness to see what everyone else is thanking God for each day. Go on over and check it out!

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Six

I'm especially thankful for my home today. This morning, I took an elderly friend shopping and did some errands of my own as well. Maybe its because my thyroid levels are beginning to drop or maybe its because every place really was extra crowded on this warm November Friday but I could not wait to get home! My friend does not get out as much as I do (lucky her) and so she wanted to linger. I wanted to expedite the process and get home to my own little cottage with a sweet little dog curled up next to me and a cup of tea in hand. I'm a homebody at heart and it felt so good to finally get here! I thank God for my snug little refuge from a busy world...temporary abode that it is.

What are you thankful for today? Rebecca is compiling our thankful thoughts each day of this month of November and its such a blessing to read of the thankfulness of others. Please join in.

15 Words or Less Poem

Having a bad hair day?
Me too.
Thought I'd borrow yours
and go incognito.

For more 15 Words or Less Poems or share one of your own, visit Laura Salas.

A Month of Thanksgiving: Day Five

Today and every day I am deeply thankful for the person and the work of Jesus Christ. This afternoon, my dear friends, Kim and Carol and I met for our weekly study of Hebrews and the passage that we looked at today is Hebrews 10:19-23. Its a summation of the first 9 1/2 chapters, the doctrinal part of the book of Hebrews, in which the author patiently lays out to the Hebrew Christians all the reasons to "hold unswervingly to the hope we profess," even and especially in the face of the awful persecution that they were facing and the temptation to renounce that hope and return to Judaism. Those reasons are just exactly who Christ is and what He has done for them and all believers. It is because of the obedience of the Son of God and His completed work that I can "draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith" because "He who promised is faithful."

John Brown, the commentator that I am using for this study puts it this way:

"The full and assured belief of that respecting which we have confidence--that Christ as our High Priest has bodily passed through these heavens into the heaven of heavens by His own blood, thereby proving the perfection of His atoning sacrifice, and the efficacy of His intercession; and thus securing that in due time we shall also enter in a similar way into the heavens; and that in heaven, whither He has entered as our Forerunner, He is a Great High Priest over the celestial temple, having everything connected with the acceptable worship of God committed to His management....It is the faith of the truth respecting the reality and efficacy of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and the hope that rises out of that faith, that enable us to draw near to Him, from whom, but for this faith and hope, had we just views of His holiness and justice and power, we would seek shelter, if possible, under rocks and mountains."

To share your thankfulness to God this month of November, visit Rebecca who is compiling the good gifts that God gives to each one of His children. What a blessing to read of the various ways that He does that!

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Four

Today I am especially thanking God for our daughter, Emily, and her willingness to help with the work around the house that I am unable to do lately. The cottage is located in an older section of Crystal Lake on a lovely corner lot with plenty of trees in the neighborhood. Those trees are beautiful at every time of the year. BUT they do have a negative aspect in the late fall...key word there is fall, as in falling leaves. We have plenty of them! The last few years, Emily has been off at school and Andy and I capably did them ourselves. This year, half of that team, namely me, has a bum hip and is off her synthroid. Emily filled in for me voluntarily and willingly and worked like a trouper. That job wouldn't be finished yet without her help.

Besides that, tonight is prayer meeting at our house and I like having a clean house when we open it to our church family. Actually, I like having a clean house any time! And Emily knows that. So again, she gamely pitched in and did a large share of the cleaning yesterday so that I wouldn't have to do it all. That's on on top of her own commitments and responsibilities in getting her music business off the ground. And anyone who's ever started a business knows that it takes lots of work! Especially at the beginning stages! So I am grateful and humbled by the way she put my needs (and desires) ahead of her own without question. God has truly blessed me through Emily.

What are you thanking God for this day? Please share over at Rebecca Writes and join in the praising of God for His good gifts to all of His children....every day!

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Three

I just got back from another beautiful walk with Charlie and this time Andy was able to go with us! That's because he works from home on Tuesdays. So today, I am thanking God for Tuesdays. And I am thanking God for a happy marriage to a husband that I want to be with.

This picture is not of today's walk, as you can see. Emily took it on our vacation in the spring. But I love it because to me it reflects something about the marriage relationship that Andy and I share.

There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage.~ Martin Luther

Each day this month of November, Rebecca is gathering our thoughts on the things we are thankful for in our lives. You can share in the praising of God for these blessings in several ways. For the details, visit Rebecca here.

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Two

After an early morning shower and a few dark clouds, today has brightened up into a lovely sunny day. Charlie and I were able to get out for a short walk...as long as my hip would take...and it was delightful! So today I am finding myself thanking God for His glorious creation!

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:20

Rebecca is once again hosting all of our thankful posts and thoughts each day of this month of November. Visit Rebecca Writes to share in praising God for all of His good gifts to each one of us. See you there! And thank you, Rebecca!

A Month of Thankfulness: Day One

Its been quite a while since I posted anything about my history of thyroid cancer. If there is one thing I've learned about this disease, its that I have to view it as chronic. Now, thyroid cancer is highly treatable and most likely I will eventually die of something else...and I'm thinking not any time soon!

But...my tent is continuing to fall apart at the seams. I had my routine thyroid blood work just over a week ago and the tumor marker is up. So now, I am off my synthroid waiting to get hypothyroid enough to have a total body thyroid scan. My doctor is thinking late November.

Sliding into hypothyroidism is not fun. You feel increasingly sluggish every day as all systems work more and more slowly. You are so tired all the time. And so cold. And you gain weight. I really hate that part! Your skin gets so dry. You just feel like one big slug!

But here's the thankfulness part. God is faithful to never leave me in whatever trial I face (Romans 8:38-39, Psalm 46:1). That, and His promise of a transformed body (Phil.3:21) are what I am thanking Him for today.

Sunday's Hymn: From Depths of Woe I Raise to Thee

From depths of woe I raise to thee
The voice of lamentation;
Lord, turn a gracious ear to me
And hear my supplication:
If thou iniquities dost mark,
Our secret sins and misdeeds dark,
O who shall stand before thee?

To wash away the crimson stain,
Grace, grace alone availeth;
Our works, alas! are all in vain;
In much the best life faileth:
No man can glory in thy sight,
All must alike confess thy might,
And live alone by mercy.

Therefore my trust is in the Lord,
And not in mine own merit;
On him my soul shall rest, his Word
Upholds my fainting spirit:
His promised mercy is my fort,
My comfort and my sweet support;
I wait for it with patience.

What though I wait the livelong night,
And till the dawn appeareth,
My heart still trusteth in his might;
It doubteth not nor feareth:
Do thus, O ye of Israel's seed,
Ye of the Spirit born indeed;
And wait till God appeareth.

Though great our sins and sore our woes
His grace much more aboundeth;
His helping love no limit knows,
Our utmost need it soundeth.
Our Shepherd good and true is he,
Who will at last his Israel free
From all their sin and sorrow.

Martin Luther, 1523
Tune: Allein Gott In Der Hon', Geistliche Lieder, Leipzig, 1539
Arr. Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, 1809-1847