my thankful thursday post for the day...

Hmmm... Thankful Thursday again...

Here's what's on my mind today:
After work I'm driving "over the mountain" to Hayesville, NC to see the Peacock Players present Fiddler on the Roof. The drive over the mountain is arduous... it's an hours worth of hairpin twists and turns with no forgiveness on either side. The drive there in broad daylight will be ok... dizzying but ok... the drive home will be late at night. Super scary.
I'm thankful that my grandmother is still alive, still able to go to plays, that I have the opportunity to visit with family, that I have gas in my car, that the tickets were a gift... and more than anything, I'm thankful for my new glasses to help me drive at night!

I've got three close friends who are struggling for different reasons. Here are their stories:

Friend A - is a newly divorced mom of two boys. In the past year she's dealt with abuse from her ex-husband, two job losses, an unexpected pregnancy by a casual acquaintance (which she terminated) and the loss of her home. She is currently unemployed, having to share her parents' 1 bedroom house and extremely discouraged.

Friend B has 3 kids and is married to a man who is - at best bi-polar, at worst, schizophrenic. About every six-nine months he decides that he's done with their marriage and launches Mel Gibson-esque attacks on my friend. He tells her how worthless she is, that she's ruined his life, that he's in love with someone else... horrible, destructive, hateful things. And after much weeping and gnashing of teeth, they will go through the paces of getting a divorce and when it gets right down to the wire, he'll have a change of heart and they'll reconcile. He plays super husband for a time period while she cleans up the collateral damage from his last outburst and then... it cycles on again. This has happened many, many times. It's happening again and again, she's devastated.

Friend C has 4 kids under the age of 12 and is divorced. She works hard. She's beautiful and energetic and upbeat and just as sweet as can be. She's facing foreclosure on their home and has to raise $4,000 by September. She doesn't have family support (which has been my safety net over the past two years!) and no one in her peer group has that kind of money. It's quite possible that it's better for her to let the house go and move to a more affordable place but her kids have been thru a lot and she wants them to be able to keep their home.

Here's the thing: everywhere I turn, there are people facing hardships of different types. Everyone struggles. Everyone hurts. Everyone faces challenges. Some are of our own making. In every one of those situations you could point to a crossroads where that person made a decision that led to the circumstances they're in... so that begs the question... when people suffer because of their own poor choices, do they deserve compassion? When people face consequences for their actions... do we stand by and let them suffer?

For me... the answer is no. I am a product of grace. I depend on grace. Without grace, I would be lost... literally, physically, emotionally, spiritually...

It's thankful Thursday... am I thankful that my friends are hurting? No. But I'm thankful that I can believe in a God who heals hurts, who answers prayer, who solves monumental problems... and who helps me over mountains... both literally and figuratively.

Hope you have a beautiful day! Time for me to get to work!

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I just have to say... my sister-out-law Candice swears by her two cups of coffee a day... one in the morning and one in the afternoon... I had a big cup at lunch to give me an energy boost for this evening and I have never felt better, thought more clearly or been more productive in the afternoon! That midday cup is going into my daily routine!

And it's the Peacock Playhouse and Licklog Players that are putting on Fiddler tonight...

have a great evening, y'all! Keep me and my late night drive home in your prayers!