Dear Reader:

Yesterday afternoon I fell asleep in my recliner and woke up around 3:30 wondering how long I had slept. I felt so rested and as I was returning to to the den from the bedroom I heard a knock. It was my wonderful “Gobble Gobble Turkey” nieces (Carrie/ Catherine) and mom, Doodle, coming in the door.

What a wonderful sight! I had the girls’s birthday cards since they are both Thanksgiving “babies” and then Doodle and I ended up exchanging plants…we both had the same idea…love mine Doodle!

While we were all deep in conversation…my brother Ben arrived and it was great having time to just sit and catch up on our lives. After they left…I heated up some spaghetti for an early supper and just relaxed and talked…especially about the blessings in our lives.

After supper one of the fuses blew…on the side of the den where the television is located…so that brought the evening to a quick ending. Ben said he had a good book to read anyway and I still had the blog to do…so the night was an early one.

My mind wandered back to (last Tuesday) the  discovery that my last stretch of layered skin had reached the level of the top of the “crater.” I was as surprised as the rest of the medical staff. How did that happen so fast?

I remember Lin asked me what I had done to help the progress in my foot for the past five days and I answered honestly, “Absolutely nothing.”  Lin’s response was : “Well that is exactly what we wanted you to do… nothing…but stay off the foot and keep it elevated.” 

We all laughed at the moment but it wasn’t until yesterday that I realized that one special (very important) ingredient had been added to the “mix” (the daily ritual)…With the foggy, gloomy weather I slept …a lot. I remembered that I could hardly keep my eyes open and continuously fell asleep in the recliner at least once each day…sometimes twice. That was the secret….rest…sleep.

Sometime during the beginning of the wound treatments…at a time when all the instructions and directions were coming at me so fast I couldn’t absorb the information…I vaguely remember one staff member saying…“Rest and sleep as much as you can…the best healing comes when the brain isn’t having to do so much at the same time to so many parts of the body… and can fully concentrate on putting its energy into the injured area of the body.”  

It was the sleep that was working little miracles on my wound…so these days I feel no guilt when I doze off in the middle of the day…I can honestly convince myself I am helping nature heal my foot.

Psalm: 62:5 says it best “My soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from Him.”

Ruth Chou Simons (Gracelaced) describes rest perfectly…

“Take a deep breath and allow yourself to rest. There is no significance, hope, or value  you can strive for and gain for yourself that hasn’t already been made fully available to those who rest in Him.”

So until tomorrow….Happy Thanksgiving! And even on this, sometimes, crazy day…take time to rest and send God your love for His bounty.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Heard from Mandy who texted me that she, John, and the kids all arrived safely in Huntsville, Alabama where they will spend Thanksgiving with John’s parents. She did mention it was really cold there…apparently the frigid air mass coming in has already hit Huntsville.

Then I heard from Mollie that she, Walsh, Poogie (the dog) and the children all arrived safely at Fripp Island. Mollie took some pictures of Walsh and Eloise looking out over the balcony. Still nice fall (relatively warm) weather there.

*Tommy is slowly regaining his strength and as of this writing Kaitlyn is still free from the flu so hoping the worst is over for them.

*To all my family…Happy Thanksgiving! I love you!

*I have decided to include two names from now on for my favorite red geranium….“Little Big Red!” He will always be both Father and Son. And he was showing off his “stuff” yesterday on the sunny porch…with more buds ready to pop!