Joy in the morning

Today I woke up joyful. I sincerely believe that God gave me that joy. A blessed gift from Him to me, I am so thankful! I began my day with cooking in the kitchen. It was my day to make our personal family thanksgiving. We celebrate with family, but we like to enjoy a feast for just the four of us, unless we host Thanksgiving day. It has become our tradition.

No turkey soup this year, or sandwiches because I cooked a chicken. With all that I have been through a chicken was easier. Even so, the meal came out good and all my men were very satisfied. While everything cooked I worked on another Christmas tree craft. This next one I have named "Christmas at Tiffany's" because it is white, silver & turquoise. Here I am in our sun room with my two kitties. Mark took this picture.

The sun room is not the neatest place right now. It is where the boys do their studies and where we keep all the homeschooling stuff. When we are not using it for school we use it for summer dining or entertaining. Next picture below is a picture of a hawk that Mark also took. The hawk visited our backyard today, it had an eye on our rabbit. We usually let our bunny run about the yard for exercise, but today we had to put her back in her hutch as I didn't want her to become a meal.

I do love the hawks, but they are predators. So much of their land has been lost to housing and they have no where else to go for food. It is really quite sad.

I have to say that I had a very blessed Thanksgiving meal on Thanksgiving day. I was able to eat all day with very little discomfort. Granted I ate half of what I normally eat, but I was pleased to be able to eat what I did without great discomfort. So much thanks goes to friends who have prayed for me. And so much praise to God for allowing me to have a wonderful time eating. I also enjoyed visiting with one of my friends on Thanksgiving day. She is a very sweet lady and I simply adore her. I have not seen her in months so it was nice to be able to chat. I also chatted a bit with one of my brothers in-law. He has a problem with his gallbladder and he has lost weight for the same reason I have...not being able to eat without pain. We are both in the same boat and it was nice to have some one that understands. They have told my brother in-law that he needs surgery, but he is reluctant, especially after watching all that has happened to me. None of us knows what is up ahead, but I do know that the Lord will lead us through as we look to Him.