by Patricia Bradley
Since this is Thanksgiving week, I thought I’d ask our readers to share something they are thankful for that isn’t your normal thing to be thankful for.
Like something making you late and because of it, you miss an accident–that’s happened to me more than once.
Or like a friend who was thankful for a boring boyfriend who kept her from dating an exciting one. If she’d dated the exciting one, she probably would have married him…and missed the man she eventually married who is her soulmate.
So Suspense Sisters, what unusual thing are you thankful for? Leave a comment and I'll enter you in a drawing for a $10 gift card. Your choice of Starbucks, B&N or Amazon.
Hubs & I are grateful for his massive stroke 23 yrs. ago. We have talked about this so many times over the years. If he hadn't had his stroke, he would have been working 80-90 hrs. a week as a contractor, constantly away from home, that would have put such a strain on our new marriage. Instead we became so close, learning how to share our new reality together. Sure there's been some frustrating, disappointing times with many tears, but the laughter & love is priceless. Happy Thanksgiving! rw620 AT aol DOT com
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome, Robin.
DeleteAfter leaving a very small town to experience a very large college and an exciting life altogether, I am very thankful that my daughter and son in law chose to move back to the very small town she wanted to leave. We have had the joy of three precious grands and a wonderful life with them. mauback55 at gmail dot com
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad your daughter decided to move back close to you, Melanie!
DeleteI'm grateful that Stanford University (Calif) turned me down for financial aid, and I went to college in my hometown of Cleveland. Otherwise I never would've met the crazy-cutie from class, who's been my husband of 45 years. Great question, Pat! Happy Thanksgiving to you and all our readers.
ReplyDeleteAww, Mary, that's a great thing to be thankful for!
DeleteI'm grateful that my son and daughter-in-law divorced, because if they hadn't she wouldn't have remarried and had the little boy she has now. We have remained close, and he is 3 years old. His name is Cooper, and he is the love of my life. He calls me Mom-Mom and my husband Poppy, and I count him as my sixth grandchild. I am also extremely thankful that she and her husband allow us to be part of their lives.
ReplyDeleteThat's so sweet, Linda!
Deletefood
ReplyDeletebn100candg at hotmail dot com
Awesome! Happy Thanksgiving!
DeleteI am grateful that I got turned down for the job that I really thought I wanted because now I got on at a different place that is terrific. They have worked with as I was recovering from my surgery and then my two trips to the emergency room that caused me to miss work even though I had just started. Also, the job I thought I wanted I saw shortly after I was hired elsewhere they were already rehiring for same position just filled so turnover seems high there. Lela, paralegal7@hotmail.com.
ReplyDeleteAhh, anytime a company has high turnover, watch out! So glad you're at a place where your are appreciated, Lela!
ReplyDeleteI'm grateful and thankful I flunked out of my freshman year in college thirty years ago...it started a string of events that led me to my husband , which led to our two wonderful kids
ReplyDeleteThat's wonderful, Amy!!
DeleteI'm grateful that when in cold-winter MN a previous visit to Corinth, MS showed me that among the options I considered, it offered great cost-of-living, an existing network of friends, closer and manageable distance to MN loved ones that further destinations. Visiting a writers' conf. friend maybe 5 years ago turned out to be a very important odd thing that turned out not to be odd at all but a perfect fit.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, Delores! And includes a trip to Israel!!
DeleteI’m thankful for the flea infestation we had this summer. It reminds me how good God had been to my family. While it was frustrating and aggravating, we could have been dealing with something so much worse.
ReplyDeleteWow! What a positive attitude, Gina!!
DeleteI am thankful that my husband had open heart surgery last December. He sent me a text while I was at work, saying that he is not feeling well and he was headed to the E.R. He didn't tell me that he was in an ambulance at the time!
ReplyDeleteOne year later, and he is doing well and we are closer because of it.
Oh, my goodness. Your husband was very thoughtful. lol
DeleteI agree that when looking back I can be thankful for many "odd" things! I am thankful that a few things didn't work out as I had hoped at the time because I would not have got together with my hubby. :) I am thankful for it taking way longer than we had hoped in finding a house - because we have had to rent a basement, with 6 people, and it has brought us all so much closer as a family!! Amazing how that works.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, Susan! I think it's the hard times that brings us closer.
DeleteI'm thankful the university my daughter applied to is taking 60 of her previous credits instead of 42! This was a tough question to answer I sure had to thin k about it for a while.
ReplyDeleteOh, wow, that is GREAT, Beverly!
DeleteI'm thankful for lots of odd things this year. We live in the panhandle of Florida and our town was decimated by Hurricane Michael. So as we recover, I am surprised that sometimes the smallest, strangest things are the most important. For example, I was ecstatic when our garbage man came by. I'm that Publix gives tetanus shots. (Hubby stepped on a rusty nail on a weekend.) I'm thankful that the trees in our backyard fell toward our house. (They fell about 6 feet shy of our house, but prevented flying debris from hitting our unprotected windows--we were short some plywood. I am thankful for traffic congestion. (Many power workers and contractors have flooded our area. We have a lot of odd things I'm thanking God for.
ReplyDeleteMy prayers are with you. That was a terrible hurricane.
DeleteI am thankful that I have job. (jozywails@gmail.com)
ReplyDeleteThat is a wonderful thing to be thankful for!
DeleteI am thankful that we were able to have a quiet Christmas at home last year when my son had the flu. For the first time, my children (12,13, and 18) woke up to a Christmas morning in their own home instead of a hotel room. We celebrated Christmas once the medicine brought down his fever. We celebrated with extended family over Easter. We received some strange looks carrying in Christmas presents into the hotel in March.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you got to spend Christmas at home, glad your son bounced back!
DeleteI'm oddly thankful for homeless people. They have taught me to be grateful.
ReplyDeleteVery good, Tammy! We hav so much to be thankful for!
DeleteI was driving on the freeway the other day in Phoenix visiting my parents when a car almost sideswiped me. It was a very close call and I know the Lord saved me from having a bad accident.
ReplyDeletefaithdcreech at gmail dot com
That must have been scary, Faith. I've had a near accident a time or two and knew God was protecting me.
DeleteI'm thankful that I lost my job of 15 years, two years ago because God put me in a law office where I was recently able to help my sister and I would not have had those resources two years ago at the other job.
ReplyDeleteSometimes what seems a disaster turns out to be a blessing, Naomi!
DeleteI'm thankful for my Sister, she is my best friend.
ReplyDeletediannekc8(at)gmail(dot)com
I'm thankful for my sister, too. We got together last week because her son was in the hospital.
DeleteI am thankful for my husband. He has had stage 4 kidney cancer for 8 yrs and God has let him live for this 8 and still work. He has been on oral chemo for this many years. One yr he was on immunotherapy chemo by port in his vein. He’s still on oral chemo to this day. And also worked today.
ReplyDeletegrandmama_brenda(at)yahoo(dot)com
What a blessing, Brenda! I stopped and prayed for him just now.
DeleteThat we're celebrating the holiday with my DH's ex-wife (and children and grandchildren). God really does answer prayers!
ReplyDeleteHe does indeed. My husband's ex-wife used to spend Thanksgiving with us. And we were supposed to go to my daughter's ex-husband's house for dinner before travel plans were changed.
DeleteI am thankful for a business franchise my DH and his best friend started and then subsequently sold after 6 months because I saw the faithfulness of God in providing for us over and over again! In an 18-month period, he was bringing home a regular paycheck for 6 months... but we never went hungry! We eventually moved to where we are now (and have been since 1990) and both our kids grew up and met their spouses! ;-)
ReplyDeleteGod always supplies our needs, doesn't he Cyndi!
DeleteI’m thankful for baby “accidents”—I have 3 young grandsons and only one was planned. I couldn’t love them more, so I guess I’m grateful for carelessness, lol. Legallyblonde1961@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteLove it, Kara!
DeleteI’m thankful for my car breaking down and getting my first ever new car at age 63. leliamae54(At)aol(dot)com
ReplyDeleteAwesome, Lucy! Enjoy!
DeleteI am thankful that my husband had an accident on the way to a new job 43 years ago. The day the insurance settlement went through, I went into labor with son #2. That whole story takes about 15 minutes to tell and involves four generations of participants.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like an interesting story, Paula! You need to blog about it. :-)
DeleteAs an older person, I did not have a computer around the age of 50. I was looking for a part time job in an office, but it seemed computer experience was required. So, I'm thankful that I took some computer classes and am now and have been enjoying having a computer with all it's joys and woes, ha! I didn't find a job with someone else, but I did help my husband in his tire shop in the office, with a new computer to handle our office work.
ReplyDeleteI have a love-sometimes hate relationship with my computer, too, Connie. They are awesome when they work right...of course, around here it could be the one inputting the information...
DeleteI'm thankful for my husband's prominent job loss and bankruptcy years ago. It lead to financial freedom for us (we still are debt free)and his very satisfying job he has now...which by the way, he loves more and more everyday!
ReplyDeleteThough at the time is was an uber scary time to have the rug pulled out from under us, we can look back and see God had better plans for us. The job he was in? The staff and management changed for the not better and I'm so glad God lead him where he needed to be at the right time! And though it's taken a few years to get our credit score and savings back up, it made me trust God more for our needs. He put people in our lives who've helped us along the way and we are more cautious with our money (not that we weren't before). It was a blessing in disguise.
What a fun post! I can see the Lord's hand in all the other people who've commented. He always makes beautiful things out of the ashes of our lives...ALWAYS!
teamob4 (at) gmail (dot) com
I can see God's hand in everyone's post, too, Trixi. I've learn to thank Him and trust Him even when I can't see the outcome.
DeleteI'm grateful for a bad teaching experience that caused me to move 700 miles from home to take a fun new job. Three months after I moved, I met the man who would become my husband.
ReplyDeleteAww, Carolyn, that's wonderful!
DeleteI'm thankful that I was able to visit Israel in May.
ReplyDeleteOh, Caryl, that's awesome! I'm leaving for Israel Sunday!
DeleteI am thankful that the original Christian bookstore I worked for went out of business and another took over their space and hired me. The women who worked at the first store still get together for dinner and fellowship once a month although it has been more than 15 years since it closed. I have also made many friends among both the employees and the customers of the second store. Carol A. carola245(at)hotmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteI think a bookstore would be a wonderful place to work, Carol!
DeletePerhaps not so odd, but I am thankful that I could experience the life of a farmer before I became a public librarian. I think it helped me in dealing with the many different patrons who walked through the library doors. Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteThankful for the drive I have back and forth transporting my children to swim practice every day. We’ve had some hilarious, some somber, some inspirational, and even some uncomfortable conversations during our drives.
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