Really, Really Thankful this Thursday!

Yabba dabba dooo! Today's my Friday!
I work from 11:30 to 4:30.
It's payday and I already have my direct deposit in my account.
First paycheck since March 16th!
Can you imagine surviving for five months without any income?

From paycheck to paycheck... five months...
and when my paycheck came in there was $7.32 in my account, ten dollars in cash in my wallet.
But last night for dinner we had salmon, roasted chickpeas and mushroom "fries".
I didn't starve.
Isn't it amazing how God provided for me and Austin and Stubby and Trouble through all of that?
We never missed a meal, that's for sure!
Family members who generously provided for us...
Parents who were willing to let me crash their empty nest...
Even with two rotten cats...
Austin having a place to live, not the place where I would have chosen but so far, it's ok.
Austin is still working and loves getting paychecks.
I can feel the pride he feels in himself. That feeling is addictive.
I feel it myself today.
We made it.
I found a job that is exactly what I needed...
flexible hours, and employer who sees a person's abilities, beyond their disabilities...
Every day there I feel more blessed.
Every day HERE I feel more blessed.
And this season of life that had loomed dark and scary...
Involves so many wonderful surprises...
Time with Cody and Marquee and Sammy dog...
An Oscar dog who climbs in bed with me when Mawmaw leaves in the morning...
A Lily dog who waits patiently for the opportunity to lick my plate after every meal...
Old Rosie cat who can barely see but likes to eat treats out of my hand...
And Lady and Stubby and Trouble and Tommy and Eddie, the "Ginger Cat" and the fish and the Gram-sters...
Mom and Pop... finally being an "only child"... finally being finished raising children...
Finally, after 36 years in the same house, my parents are buying a new house today...
Going from one little house with about 1100 square feet where they raised five kids and a couple grandkids...
And an ex-girlfriend, an ex-boyfriend, a few stray people and a lot of stray animals...
To having that little house PLUS a huge (to us) Mountain House with another 2600 square feet...
Without a mortgage. God is that good!
Is there still pain? Yes, every day.
Uncle John is very sick in a hospital in Texas and we worry for him.
Grandma is settling in to her new season of life in Assisted Living.
Mom's longtime friend Becky's husband is in the hospital awaiting heart surgery.
We still miss Gramps
and know that when we celebrate Sarabeth's tenth birthday in October that we will feel his absence terribly.
We have hearts that are fragmented and bruised.
There are loved ones, living and dead, that we wish were here with us...
We carry along with us the scars that accumulate through life.
But we also carry along great hope for a future that seems brighter every day.
Hope that comes from fruit that comes from what seems like a barren tree...
Seeing, once again that joy DOES come in the morning...
and that although we may not have everything we wish for, we certainly have everything we need.
I'm thankful this Thursday and I hope you are too!
Love and hugs!
(and ps, we still need help moving on August 24th- 25th)