This year, I watched many Facebook friends write a day’s worth of “thanks” leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday.  I daresay, I’m one of those who gives thanks daily – regardless of a looming holiday.  I have a prayer list – one side of the list is people who I need to pray for and the other is a list of thanks to praise Him for.   I always say that I have a quilted heart.  It has been ripped out, shredded, hurt over-and-over again – but, with love and forgiveness, it has been stitched back together.  Certain folks need to hear that I am very thankful they are in my life, and in the life of our family:

• My Creator, my Living God, my Rock – God the Father.  All thanks are His!
• My life-long partner, my love, my caregiver – my husband.
• To our four children – I never thought I’d have kids, but it’s the best job in the world, to be a Mother!
• To my brothers, sisters-in-law and their families – thank you for letting me be a part of a family.  You are loved.
• To my other families who raised me – my aunt and uncle and my third foster parents, and their families.  You, too, are loved.
• My MIL and her family – always surrounded by love.
• My SIL and her family – you make my children’s lives so much more fun!
• My MS friends, without you, I would surely be floating in a sea of never getting answers for some of the symptoms I endure.
• My quilt friends – you feed me with your creativity, your exhuberance for life, your friendships and your giving hands.
• My virtual friends, many of whom I’ve never met but who are still a large part of my online life.
• Those special friends, the ones who send me gifts for myself or my children – out of the goodness of their hearts.  We work hard to pay it forward, though we rarely pay it forward the same amount as has been given to us.
• Our church friends, those who pray for us, those who email me to check on me, those who care.
• The doctors, nurses and other medical personnel who are striving to make those of us with MS suffer less and get better quicker. 
• The teachers who teach my children – may they be blessed by others as our children have been blessed by their knowledge.

This is certainly not a full list, but it’s a good start.  I must say, I am thankful every single day that I can get out of bed and start my day.  Some days, MS rules my waking hours.  Some days, I am able to live a halfway ‘normal’ life.  Each day I get up is a gift from God, and I will sit on the side of the bed and thank Him for allowing me to have another day with my family and friends. 

To you, I extend a quilted heart Happy Thanksgiving!