Thankful Thursday

When you feel the first beginnings of alertness as you awaken in the morning and your first thought is "I slept all night. The phone didn't ring.", that is something to be thankful for! Most people don't even have this though in the morning. That is good and right and normal.If you have reason to think that as your waking thought, obviously, the opposite has been true. And when you wake up and realize nothing interrupted your sleep the previous night, you are thankful! Thank you, Lord, for a peaceful, normal night! I slept with my land line and my cell next to my bed and they both were quiet all night.

2 nights in a row a ringing phone cuts through our silent house. This is never a good thing!

Long story short, my very dearest friend's son is in the hospital. Has been there since Sunday night. Lord willing, he'll go home tomorrow. That is a LONG time to be in the hospital, by today's standards. Especially if you are 9. It has been a scary week! A middle-of-the-night seizure got him a ride in an ambulance (that he doesn't remember) to the hospital. Another (much worse) middle-of-the-night seizure the next night proved the first one wasn't just a fluke as we had hoped. After a TON of not-too-fun tests and exams, he has a diagnosis and we're praying hard that he keeps getting stronger and healthier with each hour (and especially, each night) that passes. Thank God for modern medicine and anti-seizure drugs!

The truth-teller, rule-follower in me cringes a little inside when she introduces me to the rounding ICU doc :: "This is my sister. Sam's aunt." She mean it with all her heart, and I believe it too. But a little part of me worries we'll be "found out". Will they catch us and accuse us of lying or deceit? No one cares, really. They believe us. (Who wouldn't. We look SO much alike . . . well, except the hair color, skin color, body shape, 9 inches of height difference. You know, no big deal). She is an only child. I have a younger brother. Growing up, there would be summers when I'm fairly certain she went DAYS without seeing her parents. She practically lived at our house. Kept a toothbrush there. Didn't ask if it was ok before opening the fridge and taking whatever she wanted. Using our toilet with the door open. Family stuff! We really are sisters in any way that counts! We have been friends for decades (about 3 of them, if you care to know). Friends through good and plenty of bad! I've never had an "actual" sister, but I can't imagine I could be any more "sisterly" with someone who actually lived in my house every day growing up, whose college and wedding was paid for by the same 2 adults as mine. I'm pretty certain this is as good as it gets :: I adore her. She drives me nutty. You know, just like a sister should! I would call her in the middle of the night, without a thought, if I needed her and she would do the same (I have phone records from this week as evidence of that fact).

So I hurt with her. Pray with her. Worry with her. And when I wake up in the morning to the realization of a phone call-free night, I am thankful with her. I am thankful today!