Two happy people!

This is a picture I got of Lee yesterday with his granddaughter, Peyton.  You can tell by the big smiles how happy they were to see each other!  Peyton is 8 and is Bryce's big sister (Bryce was the lump of sugar in my lap in yesterday's pic.)  Today Lisa and Rick left and we got the house back into receiving shape.  Maybe someone else will come to see us!  Tomorrow we're going to OKC to do some more celebrating, so we'll see some more family.  It is great to celebrate the blessings of family!

This time last year was so bleak for me and the sadness is easy to remember.  A good friend passed away on Thanksgiving day last year and my heart aches for his wife's pain this year as she has to be so reminded.  The teacher I had hoped to finish the year for when she had her baby lost her baby Friday, so she is having a sorrowful Thanksgiving, but she is being a marvelous example for all of us.  She posted on facebook:

 Romans 15 13  " Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing, that ye may abound in hope, in the power of the holy spirit."

I am amazed at the strength of some folks and thank God for blessing me with them in my life.  Life is not always easy, but we have so many blessings.  I believe we have to count the blessings and thank God for giving us a part in His plan even if it's not easy.  I really love it when we can smile and I thank God for those precious times.

Many of you are concerned, as I am, for my brother-in-law, Phil, who has recently suffered a stroke.  He is at home and taking it as easy as possible.  They are running lots of tests to do their best to determine what is at the root of his problem so that they can prevent another stroke.  Please keep him and Ruthie in your prayers because they are looking at some lifestyle changes to say the least.  Hopefully, a cause and a remedy can be determined.  In the mean time he still feels tingly and numbness in his left side and his energy level is way down.  He is alive, alert, mobile, content and praising God for his life, though.  Thank you for your love and concern.  My sister, Ruthie, has MS and is in need of a knee replacement, so she is struggling, too.  However, she's as tough as they come and she's stepped up to the plate during this crisis to be strong.  Ruthie has been my leader all my life and Phil stepped in when I was 12; lucky me!  I thank God for the blessings they've been in my life.