Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving!

Dear Lord, I am thankful to you for all things in my life, the many blessings, trials, and triumphs. As I reflect on these things, I want to give you all the credit. Thank you so much for my family. You have allowed me to know and feel the love of my wonderful grandparents Mac & Margie McDuffie, Madeline Stanley, and Elizabeth Harmon. They are invaluable resources for the wealth of knowledge and experience they have and share with me. Thank you Lord for their lives, so that my children can know them as well. Thank you for my parents, Joan & Bennie Harmon, and Andy’s Parents, John & Irene Cole. They have always been supportive of their children, but never before has so much been asked of them. They have been willing to drop everything at a moment’s notice to help when we call (and boy, have we had to call!) Thank you especially for my mother, who put her life on hold for us this year. First by moving in with us at Parker’s house to care for our son while we were going back and forth to the hospital, then by using her time and energy to care for our daughter who could not go to daycare. We could not have made it through the last eight months without her! Lord, thank you for our brothers and sisters, and their spouses. Nora, Bobby, JP, Denise, LeMai, Frankie, Brian, Christy, Keith, Kelly, and Steve: you have done so much for us; your visits, prayers, babysitting, money, and food help to sustain us during the most difficult time in our lives. We have truly felt your love and support. I thank you most of all Lord for my husband and two children. Andy is my whole world, and has been for the last 13 years. Thank you for the love in our marriage. Thank you for putting us together, and leading our household, and allowing us to care for Michael and Katie. Lord thank you for all of our great friends who have been with us in good times and bad, sharing our laughter and our tears. While I am not glad there is a condition called CDH or that you chose our daughter to have it, I am appreciative to you Lord for the experience and outcome that we have had with it. Katie’s CDH has changed our lives. We will never be the same carefree, oblivious people we once were. But Lord, I thank you for that. I don’t want to be that person anymore, because now I recognize our blessings and value our lives more deeply. Through Katie’s condition, you have allowed us to meet some of the most wonderful people. I thank you for Parker Singletary. Her life inspired her parents Jessica and Ashley to create a wonderful foundation in her memory that helps families like ours every day. We could never repay them for their support while we were in the hospital. I thank you for the Myers family, the Vierigs, and the Ashworths, who we have met through this shared experience. I thank you for giving all of the doctors and nurses at Duke the knowledge and skill to treat Katie and save her life. I know that you were there guiding their hands. Thank you Lord for our church. Not only have you provided us a place of worship, but an extended family whose prayers and support have been unceasing. I thank you Lord for the understanding and the support of our co-workers. Both Andy and I have had to rely on others to complete our tasks and do our jobs in our absence. We both work with wonderfully supportive schools that have provided us with so much encouragement. Lord, this day and every day I want to continue to thank you. I appreciate my life and every aspect of it, whether it be a high point or low, you have been with me, guiding me every step of the way. This is definitely not a comprhensive thank you note Lord, but just some things that were on my heart this morning. THANK YOU!