A Message from Peggy Hensley …         

 

“Come, ye thankful people, come” is the opening phrase of a hymn that is sung this time of year. Sometimes we need to be reminded to be thankful. Many times we can live through a difficult experience and then look back and see there was a blessing in that experience. I don’t usually tell personal stories in this message, but I want to share with you a time in my life that was hard, but, in retrospect, was also something for which to be thankful. In 2003, I became unemployed. That’s always stressful, but especially when we get a bit older. It seemed as though every avenue for employment became a dead end. A friend told me that this might be the Lord’s way of giving me quality time with my father, who was 92 at the time. I was still unemployed in December, 2003, when my father passed quite unexpectedly. After a bit of time had elapsed, I began to see the truth in my friend’s words. I was able to spend more time with Daddy than I had in years. When he wanted to go somewhere, I was able to go with him. He loved to eat out - probably a comment on my cooking, which I didn’t measure up to my mother’s! I was with him when he was called home, and, had I been employed, I would not have been there. I look back now and thank God for that bonus time with him.  This November, let’s celebrate Thanksgiving all month long by recognizing our many blessings, even those we don’t see at first.