Straining for Gratitude

Just a quick thought since I don’t have much time for posting this week:

Today while reviewing our finances and figuring how to pay the bills while still having enough money for food, a thought hit me…a kind of depressing thought, but a thought nonetheless.

A year ago, the husband and I had more money than we knew what to do with. We were busy making plans with the security that the money brought. Then, my husband got very sick, lost his job, got sicker and within two months we had burned through all our savings on doctors.

This Thanksgiving we have been forced to borrow money from a friend just to pay the rent, are trying to decide whether to pay the electricity bill or the phone bill, have given up trying to sift through all the medical bills and are praying that somehow we make it through the holidays with a roof over our heads.

It is an amazing turn of events. But the most amazing thing about it is how grateful we are to have what little we have. We have a car that’s paid for, a nice loft (for the time being) and we have each other and our wonderful dog, Trotter.

I try not to look at the bank account much anymore unless I have to (like today) because there are only so many ways you can make zero go into zero. But I do look at my life. Though the money is gone and the luxuries are a distant memory, I am grateful.

I am grateful that, for today, I am safe. I am grateful that, for today, I have the love of my life still in my life. I am grateful that, for today, I know where my next meal is coming from.

But most importantly, I am grateful that, for today, I have not been brought this far only to be abandoned now.