I know no better way to wish you Happy Thanksgiving this year than to gift you with the following story by my friend and colleague, Voni Harris.
Thanksgiving in the Tough Times
by Voni Harris
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
What? Why? I have Turner Syndrome! My hearing is poor—so I have to wear hearing aids. I have diabetes and a couple other things—thirteen pills a day. Yeah, so fun. I’m 4’6”—it’s frustrating to walk through a store unable to reach the thing I’m trying to purchase. I was an adult when a ten-year-old once patted me on the head—grrr, don’t pat me on the head and don’t lean on my head! A TS Facebook friend of mine died because her aorta dissected all the way down to her thigh—this could happen to me! I have a hard time finding shoes that fit—without glitter or cartoon character decorations. Kids and adults made short jokes all the time, my entire life.
How could I even be thankful to God for my life? Turner Syndrome is the pits…
Wait. How could I not be thankful to God for my life? Only 2% of Turner Syndrome butterflies survive even to birth. I did. For whatever reason, I did. My parents taught me to see short jokes as humor and encouraged me to discern whether someone is curious, humorous, or mean about it. My daughter’s family is full of love, my eight-year-old grandson thrilled he’s (a little) taller than me. With humor. I have no TS heart or kidney issues. I became a writer with the word skills and joy in storytelling God gave me. (We butterflies may not be strong in math, but words—yep. However that looks in each TS life.)
And there’s my husband—he loves me deeply, but at first he was attracted to me with all my uniqueness.
That’s it. God daily teaches me to enjoy in humility all this uniqueness. It came from Him. I have to face it, laugh, talk it through, find help…whatever I have to do, I do. Because This is my life, given to me by God, saved by Jesus.
That’s the joy through all the positive and negative in my life beyond TS. Thank you, Jesus.
Grief, trauma, struggles, disappointments, frustrations, syndromes, sickness, disabilities…these exist in various forms in everyone’s life. Everyone’s. It’s hard, isn’t it? This is God’s will? Rejoice always? Yeah, right, give thanks in all circumstances.
I’ve been there, again and again. Beyond just TS.
What are you facing?
Do you have to fight your way through it? Maybe…but the question is, where is God leading you? What is He asking you to do?
Well, it is Thanksgiving season, and God’s word does say to give thanks in all circumstances.
Whatever you’re facing, can you—in gratitude—look for what God is doing in your life? Can you—in gratitude—look for people who care and help you face it, laugh with you, help you?
It’s okay if you can’t at this moment. No matter your circumstance, find one simple good thing in your life. Thank God for that. It’s a Thanksgiving tradition to tell the people at the table what you’re thankful for. Just say that one simple thing at your table. Or just tell God that one thing.
Then watch for another. And another. And another.
Let the process of gratitude open your heart to trust God. The junk in your life? God will work through it. At the right time. In the right way. Watch for it. Your life is unique. And there is joy, no matter how hard it is to feel at times. I pray for God to help you be grateful, however that looks, through all your joy and junk.
Wow. Thanksgiving is so much deeper than a plate of turkey.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Meet Voni
With a law-enforcement instructor father and a newspaper editor mother, it’s no wonder Voni Harris grew up to write suspense novels. Voni writes from the home she shares with her legal-eagle husband on the beautiful and mysterious Alaskan island, where her creativity abounds. Her hubby and their Australian Shepherd and Boston Terrier all conspire to pull her from the computer out into the God-created rainforest…which inspires that creativity. Working with her mentor, Ronie Kendig, to write Surge, was a stunning learning experience.
Sign up for my Flash Fiction Break newsletter at voniharris.com”
Surge into the Christmas season with Voni’s latest suspense novel along with Ronie Kendig from Sunrise Publishing.
Garrett Walker doesn’t want to lead the small military contract team across Southeast Asia, hunting for the terrorists’ stash of toxic chemicals. A Breed Apart’s Military Working Dog, Surge, is skilled, accomplished. But his trainer, Delaney Thompson, is part of the deal. And a maverick.
Delaney isn’t sure about taking Surge on the mission. She’d trained the Malinois to sniff out these chemicals. The team needs his nose. But Garrett is a bear of a leader.
The chemicals will kill thousands of Americans. They have to take the mission.
Can they work together, learn to see each other as God does?
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