Being grateful

The other night while talking with friends, we began to count our blessings and reflect, that in the midst of the pandemic we were never alone. And it was gratifying to note that even those who were sick and did not have family around, were not really left totally alone. God was there, and I would like to think that it was He who held their hand when He had to take them home.

I lost some friends to COVID. Some whose smiles I can still remember until now. But they may be smiling even laughing with the Lord, breathing freely and never worrying about pain. I pray their families would take comfort in that.

God has never and will never leave our side. He has promised that several times in the Bible. And if we are not thankful about that, what else can we be grateful for?

Then we realized that not all people are thankful. Sadly. Some think that all they have, do and can do are out of their own sweat, blood and tears. What abject poverty!

People who have no one to thank may be the poorest of them all. For having no gratitude in our hearts also shows how lonely life has been. No one cares. Really. For every word of thanks is a gift received. Whether it be a kind word, gesture, or just a thought. Perhaps I am really getting old, noting the value of the cliché “it is better to give than to receive” and “it is the thought that counts.”

In every gift I get, I always look at its value. Not on the item, but on the thought and care that goes with it. In the office, my friend Sandra drops in some of her harvests now and then.  Whether it be chili, bananas, ampalaya or whatever. And I feel so blessed to be thought of even in these gestures. My other friend Amado, randomly calls me to just pass by and pick up a plant, some crops, or whatever he thinks I may appreciate, and my heart continues to overflow. 

Eileen, to whom I owe my reading glasses for now, openly shares her spare bifocals with me when I forget my reading glasses for the nth time. Priceless!

Many friends, who just call, or keep me company while I drive handsfree so I do not fall asleep in the lag of traffic on the North Road under heavy downpour. So many precious gifts people are. So much to be thankful to God for. The sustaining presence of God and His provisions abound in countless many blessings we may just fail to recognize.

The kind warm tea that awaits me when I get home from Unice, our working student.  The call of concern from Babie, when she knows I am stressed. My favorite fruit that my  husband Jeff carefully places near my plate every morning so I get enough natural vitamins. Or even the blooms in my garden that remind me of every friend that gave them to me. 

I am rich. Yes. Abundant in the grace of God. And my prayer is, you too will relax in the joy of thanksgiving to a God who I do not have to carry, but carries me.