Thanksgiving Thorns

When searching for a Thanksgiving skit to direct for Centerpoint I never thought I would find anything that would really make me reflect life as the one I found. Thanksgiving Thorns is by playwright Paul Joiner.  It is about being thankful for the thorns in your life because through those thorns you really learn about how good God really is. The poem the play closes with is: 

My God,
I have thanked Thee a thousand times for the roses,
but never for my thorns.
Teach me the glory of the cross I bear:
teach me the value of my thorns.
Show me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain.
Show me that my tears have made my rainbow.

George Matheson

This passage and the text of the skit have brought a new light to Thanksgiving for me this year.  I reflect the past 12 months.  And fortunately this year we do have good things to be thankful for.  We have the purchase of our first house.  After many "Job" years we were finally blessed with our house which is everything we wanted in a house.

Rion and I have had many "thorns" since we have been married.  His Ankylosing Spondilitis brought both physical, financial, and emotional thorns to our life.  We deal with his pain and the days he has trouble walking.  I had to go back to work to support our family because the disease affected Rion's ability to provide.  This was NOT AT ALL our plan.  I have not always been gracious about it.  I do see how God has provided for us.  He provided a job for me with a tremendous amount of flexibility.  In some ways I think our marriage is stronger because of the change.  Rion worked 6 days a week and we didn't have much family time. 

Then we have our children. With children it is always an adventure.  When our middle was born the doctor estimated the due date wrong and did a scheduled C-Section to find a baby whose lungs were not developed.  Those were very scary days. He had to be placed on 100% oxygen and spent 10 days in the NICU.  The same child this past summer spent 2 weeks in the hospital while the doctors were trying to determine what was causing his high fevers and joint inflammation.  So many good things came out of that experience and we can look back and see God at work.  During the hospitalization we received an answer to prayer about God's will for where our family is to worship.  When our car broke down while we were at the hospital He made provisions for us and our Pastor "happened" to be in the lobby of the hospital and knew a tow truck company and a mechanic.  A good friend helped us with the bill.  And when Jacob was released from the hospital before he was ready, the home healthcare nurse happened to get "delayed" at another house and didn't arrive at our house until 10:15pm just in time to see that our thermometer was not reading correctly and he had a fever of 104.8 degrees.  This lead to him being readmitted and finally getting the treatment he needed.  It scares me to think about what would have happened to him if she had not been there that night and his fever had continued to escalate.

When things are rough sometimes it is hard to remember you are not alone.  But the only way I have found to get through those times is by "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms."