Grateful

Undoubtedly 2020 will be a year hard to forget, though many of us will want to try to forget it. As I write this, it is May 2, 2020, and so many things have happened in the four months that have passed already since the pandemic descended on us. I saw a meme on social media asking if we could go back to 2019 and do a reset.

The technologically savvy who read this will know exactly to what I refer. For those not so savvy, it just means a do-over.

Unfortunately for us mortals, there is no reset or do-over in this life. It is onward ever and backward never, regardless of what we are facing ahead.

The most we can hope for is to change course if life allows us that option. It is sometimes difficult to be thankful when times are hard as they have been recently. People have lost their jobs. They have had to stay inside for weeks on end.

Food has been in noticeably short supply in many households.

Why could we possibly be thankful? Yet I challenge you today to list at least five things for which to be thankful. Here’s my list: First, I am thankful for life. I am still here above the ground despite the risks and exposure I face daily.

Parts of my body hurt, but I can still move.

Second, I have a loving and supportive family.

Even though we are apart as I write this and the future is uncertain, I still feel their love and support from across the miles. Next, I am thankful for PPE (personal protective equipment) to do my job as a nurse. So many workers on the front lines both here in my country and elsewhere are put at great risk because they do not have the protective gear they need to do their work during this pandemic.

Fourth, I am thankful for work and the ability to still earn a living, despite my job being an area of great anxiety and stress.

Finally, I am thankful that my son completed high school last year instead of this year, although I know God would have helped us through as He is doing for many students and their families. I must admit compiling this list was a bit of a challenge, but the more we dwell on the positive things in our lives, the more we will be able to be grateful to God for even the things that don’t seem to be so wonderful.

Raylene McKenzie Ross