Being Thankful

I can be thankful for what I have. I can be thankful even though my heart is broken. I can be thankful that what I once thought was significant has become insignificant and the simple has become more significant. I can be thankful that I have learned to live in the moment. David set me free. Most of all I am thankful for David even though I am furious that I lost him. I believe that we can be thankful and at the same time we can be sad, unhappy, upset and dissatisfied due to the constant knowledge that someone so precious has left us and has left a vacuum that no one else can fill.

Can I be Thankful?

A friend of mine who lost her son wrote the following e-mail: “My sister said to me today we need to thank God for everything. I said I thank God for many things in my life but NO I will never thank Him for taking my son while I am still alive and never will. I am also certain that GOD understands how I feel and maybe HE is crying with me too. However, I must wait to see HIM face to face to understand His wisdom for taking our boys and let us carry the heaviest cross ever. YES, it is the heaviest cross for a parent.”

I too have been struggling with the same thought. How can I turn the gushing tears, the heavy sighs into gratitude? How can I bear my daily burden with no relief in sight and give thanks? How can I be stripped of my child and feel all alone and give thanks? How can I give thanks when my soul is oppressed, and my heart is heavy? How can I reconcile the love of God with the loss of my son and be thankful?

If you have nothing to be thankful for this year, rejoice for the life within you that is a gift from God.