The Day after Thanksgiving

Turkey, rolls, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, salad, cranberries, sweet potatoes, and stuffing…bountiful heap of food representing the bountiful blessing of living where we live. The Lord God Almighty has backed up the dump truck of blessing on the fifty stars and we are full! I am not complaining one bit over the unfathomable outpouring of God on our formerly humble nation. God has blessed us beyond measure and we recline in that blessing, full. But I  cannot complain whatsoever, because I have seen something that transcends our PTFDS (Post Turkey Filled Drugged State).

Her name is Arlene Mathilda Rimer, also known as my mother. I saw her in her home with my brother Bob, his family and all the fixings! My mother had a smile on her face, revealing her beautiful new teeth! She was in the middle of a portion of her family, enjoying the season at the table, on the porch, in front of the TV and living normally for the first time in more than a year.

Here was a lady who up until just recently found herself at death’s door, barely able to sit up, let alone walk. Yet now, enjoying the warmth of not only the season, but the better part of the season, her family. Although she had been so sick, so frail, so unable to do anything, there she was, a miracle of the graciousness of God in the land of the living.

So, for me, on this day after Thanksgiving, I find myself thankful surely for the bounty of our nation. I still worry about said nation’s future as we shuffle away from God. But today in the midst of the PTFDS I am thankful for a lady, an hard worker, a lover of her children and a model example of a faithful fortitude in the face of seemingly overwhelming circumstance…my mother, at home, as she should be.

Thank you Lord. I know from where this has come…thank you.