Thankful

I can't believe it's the week of Thanksgiving already. I feel like I have slept the Fall away. Truth is I have slept more than usual due to being in pain for several months then having surgery and the sleep that seems to accompany that. I think I'm good and awake now.
The other day, about a week and a half after my back surgery I was with Micah in Hobby Lobby. I got a call from LeAnn. When I told her where I was she said "That is so great." I knew what she meant but she went on to explain anyway. LeAnn is a serious prayer warrior, I call on her many times when I'm just not "feelin' it" to point me in the right direction. She has been with me in this valley of pain (as have so many other cherished friends) and has kept close tabs on the situation. When she said it was great that I was in Hobby Lobby she wasn't talking about me wanting to get some crafting done....she meant it was great because I'm gonna LIVE! Not that there was any doubt..I will live forever in Heaven but we were both a bit afraid to voice it but we both thought it..my back pain could have been something much worse! My doctor had given me three possibilities that he knew of, disc, a cyst or as he put it "something we'd have to biopsy". That last one made me go paler than I usually am. He followed it with a quick "I really don't think it's that" but he had to say it and that was enough. LeAnn went on to say she was just a little bit afraid we were going to be spending time, not cruising a craft store but talking about chemo options. It could have been so much worse. I mentioned my fear to an old friend on facebook chat. I asked was it wrong to not want to die if God was ready for me to...he said there was nothing at all wrong with asking God for more time. That was a comfort and that's what I did.
I want to live and do all I'm suppose to do. I want to live a full life free from pain and sickness (don't we all?) but sometimes we have to walk through that valley of the "shadow" of death. I think I tasted just a bit of the air from that valley in the last few weeks. I am grateful for it because I felt the presence of my shepherd the whole time. I got to talk to friends I haven't talked to face to face in years. I felt so loved by my family and friends and completely lifted up by the prayers of so many.
As Thanksgiving comes this week I am almost giddy. The thought of my house bursting at the seams with loving people that I so enjoy, the food, the cooking, the cleaning, every aspect of what goes into the holiday I welcome! God is so good!
I am so thankful.