Thanksgiving blessings

Here in the US we're in the final frantic days before we celebrate Thanksgiving. I think in all the rush we sometimes forget to realize the many blessings we are given every day, until things like the snowstorm fellow farmers desi and pepsishot and their friends and neighbors are experiencing remind us that we need to remember to be grateful (continuing prayers for all those jeopardized by the snow and rain). So I am starting this thread so that we may all take a moment to give thanks, and realize that even if the turkey dries out, the pies burn, and the family argues, we still have so much to be glad for.

I am blessed by my husband, who I'm about to start my 25th year with. He takes his role as provider very seriously, and has encouraged me in my dreams when I didn't believe in them myself. I am also blessed to have a mother and father in law who I love and who love me; I know this is not always the case. I'm blessed with food when I'm hungry, shelter from the elements, clothes when I'm cold, all my physical needs met; so many don't have that.

I am grateful that I can see, and smell, and hear, and feel. I live in a part of our country that is so incredibly beautiful, it puts me in awe. The things I've gotten to experience, sights that not many people witness, bring me more joy and pleasure than I can describe. One of my favorite smells of all time is the way the mountains in the western part of the state smell in May, so sweet and moist and wonderful, I can't imagine the feeling of loss if I could never smell that again. I'm grateful that I can still get out and enjoy these sights and smells and sounds. I'm currently in physical therapy for knee problems, but am exceedingly grateful that I don't have to have surgery on them, at least for now.

I'm grateful for the gift of writing. I'm not a particularly talented person, I can't sing well (just ask my dogs ), I'm not an artist like sglick, I only dance for myself. But God decided to bless me with the ability to put words together in pleasing and meaningful ways, and I am oh so glad for that blessing. It allows me to express myself when I can't seem to do it any other way. When I'm sad, when I'm hurt, when I'm so excited and happy I feel I'll burst, I have always found a release in words, and I pray that I never take that for granted and never lose the ability.

Most of all, I am grateful that I have had one more year with people I love, with friends I care about. I've had one more year to grow and change and improve upon myself, whether I got it all right or not. I've had one more year to laugh, and learn, to forgive and be forgiven, and grow younger as I grow older. I wish all of you a blessed Thanksgiving, even those for whom just making it through the day is an achievement in and of itself. Especially you. May you be safe, and loved. May you be with those who mean the most. May you find time in all the busyness, to just breathe deep, take a moment, and give thanks. Happy Thanksgiving.

 

Here in Greece we don't celebrate Thanksgiving but I want to take part here in your lovely thread spots!
I am grateful for the family that I have my siblings, my parents, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles and my cousins
that love me and care about me. (About my family I could say so many things because it is so important for everyone to have a good one and it is the worst thing not to have someone to care about you)

I am grateful for the island that I live, it is a very beautiful one although there are some problems about the water and others.
I feel so lucky that I can see the sea everyday and I don't know if I can live without it. Watching the waves of the sea or when I swim in the sea I relax and for me it is like escaping from my everyday life.... that time I feel like a mermaid.....

I am grateful that I am healthy and I have everything for my basic needs, that I have some good friends that will help me If I need to
and I am also grateful for the chances that I have been given and for all my experiences.


spotsbox you have a talent in writing, you expressed yourself so beautifully

 

Awww spots! Who can improve on such a wonderful message that includes everything that is important in life to be thankful for? Well said!

I am grateful that God found in me, the worst of the worst of sinners, someone to love and redeem. I am so grateful that He never gave up on me, even when I was such an ugly person inside. I am so glad that He loved me so much, while I was yet a sinner, that He gave His only Son to die for my sins and make me new!!

The best part I'm thankful for? Is that my Loving Daddy Abba has transformed me, from the inside out, into His beautiful daughter.

I am also thankful for the land and home He blessed us with last year. And all the healing God has provided for me and my family over the last three years of tremendous losses and disappointments. There were so many times that all I could do was work the land, feeling the dirt between my fingers. No gloves! I needed to touch dirt, to see life, to create, while listening to Him breathe. What a beautiful gift He gave me, knowing that He was creating something good. Ahhhh.

I am grateful for God!

And Ariehl? I could just imagine you swimming in that beautiful ocean with a tail for legs! Hahahaha!

 

Good Mourning, and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the world!!! I love that Spots started this thread. I have been thinking of what to write the last few days. I knew I wanted to wait until this morning to write a post so I could share the special gratitude that I feel on this Blessed day and to also help me solidify what I am Thankful for as I go off to celebrate this day by eating too much food with friends.

First off I am grateful for reuniting with God. As many of you know I struggle with Mental Illness which has debilitated my usefulness in the world. About 4 1/2 years ago when I found Farmerama my RL was spinning out of control. I could not get a teaching job due to my symptoms after working about 6 years to earn to Master degrees in Education - one in Secondary Education and one in Special Education. I was able to pass all the exams to become a certified high school art and a special education teacher here in Arizona, but I could not get a job so I started to substitute teach for about a year. Then my symptoms became so profound that I could not sub anymore and filed for disability with the Government. I am so lucky and fortunate that I live in a country that is willing to help me while I am unwilling to work.

I felt awful about so many things when I 1st found the farm. My mind was so full of crap. It was such a Peaceful relief and come on the farm and click on my troubles away. In the early days, it was wonderful to manually harvest all the fields. It was wonderful to see that the more I clicked and harvested, the more progress I could make. I saw the Farmer Society Quest and thought no way can I finish all this Quest especially Noah's Ark and the animal trophies one. But, I decided to try the easier ones. I could not believe the satisfaction that I felt when I could complete some. I could not complete anything in RL, but when I stuck to farming I could complete something.
I began to notice the events. That early Soccer one was way beyond me, but the Strawberry Fields one looked possible. I could grow Strawberries nonstop. I did not complete it the first year, but I did the second. Even when I did not finish it. It felt satisfying to try.

I was aware of the forum and the OA section. I checked the OA section daily, but the rest of the forum looked to confusing. I could never fit in with all those people. I did not know how to use a forum. Then in the OA a writing contest was held. I did not want to enter. One of my neighbors - actually 2 of them entered. One of the neighbors contacted me about voting for her so I contacted other neighbors to vote for her. When became instant friends. We wrote each other long posts which was really difficult in the early days. We could only write a few lines at a time so I would have to send like 10 or more messages at a time since you'all know how I like to talk.

We chatted like this for months. Unfortunately, we had a disagreement and she did not want to talk to me so I started reading the forum. Suzee was the 1st farmer's post that I read and looked forward to reading. I read posts for awhile before I got up the courage to post. I loved it! I could express who I was without my Mental Illness symptoms getting in the way. I also decided early on that I would only write when I could sound Happy even if I had to fake being happy.

I felt so good when people would say nice things about what I posted. No one had said nice things in a long time. I began to joke around and laugh with other farmers. I began to make friends. I was scared to IGM anyone, because I did not want to repeat what happened to the last friend. I happy to make forum friends. Slowly, I got more courageous and began to think what could I do to show my gratitude and appreciation for Farmerama and you farmers so I developed games.

In RL, I started to improve from having you'all as friends. I got the courage to start working on my art work again. I loved being able to show you'all what I had made. It felt good to get complements about my work which encouraged me to do more. Something again happened, and I can no longer make mosaics. Instead, I am slowly trying to paint again at home. This is what I was born to do.

Then my sister past away. You'all let me grieve, and offered sympathy as I did. But, the truth is that with her death I was reborn. I was able to reconnect with my Spiritual Faith. I had not been able to do these during these year, because secretly I was mad at God. Because, I was able to freely express my Spiritual Faith with you all by talking about Peace. I was able to let go of my anger and replace it with Gratitude and Acceptance. So with her death, I was able to reunite with RL people who I share a common Faith with. This is the greatest way that I can celebrate my sister's life.

So the deep Gratitude that I feel today is for God and my Famerama Family which has helped to heal me so that I can rejoin the Real Word again. I am slowly beginning to feel like a useful and productive member of society again thanks to all of your wonderful encouragement.

Now, I am late for my RL fun of the day so I have to hurry of an scuttle. I truly hope that everyone including the lonely and the ones in pain have a truly Blessed Thanksgiving Day.


PS - no time for editing so enjoy and laugh over any mistakes that I may have made.

 

Spots what a wonderful idea and a beautiful statement!!! I agree, you have a talent for writing!
Ariel, Blaze and of course, my twisted sister sglick...what fabulous thanksgiving blessings you have shared!

Like, sglick, who has helped me and continues to be brave and face my troubles head on with God's help. This game has been my solace, my escape from RL.
SuzeeRabbit was also my introduction into the forum. I too was too nervous to post, but I would also look for her posts. They were so smart, fun and sarcastic.....I laughed out loud many times!!!

Then about 3 1/2 years ago, I ventured into posting and making friends here. It was amazing that online friends could be so fun, supportive, helpful!!! I'm a dinosauer and had never used the computer for personal associations before. Now, so many of you are my dear friends! I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to play this challenging, fun game and now be a part of this community!

I am thankful for my loving family, this safe country(thanks to the men/women of the military)....my beautiful home....my garden, my friends, and of course my furry babies!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to All!!!!

 

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We don't celebrate it here in the UK but I feel part of it, thanks to all of you. Have a lovely day.

 

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone over the pond! I hope you all have a lovely day.

 

Thanks for this thread spots I haven't had time to read much, but I will

 

spots - what a very heartfelt and touching message. You do have a beautiful gift of being able to express yourself in ways that I cannot.

I hope that each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday celebrated with friends and family and found things in your life for which to be thankful. I know many families set aside this day as a day to be grateful. I hope that we all can find something each day that touches our hearts and lives that we can be thankful for and appreciate that we have them whether it be a brief time (a season) or a lifetime.

 

Thank all you who posted and shared your thanks. Thankfulness is a universal concept that shouldn't require a set aside day or specific countries to participate in it. We can all celebrate Thanksgiving every day no matter where we are, simply by being thankful . Ariel, TC, farmer, you were all part of my Thanksgiving celebration, even tho we were in separate areas of the world. You are part of my farm family, and thus we shared the day virtually if not in reality .

Blazing and sglick, I'm not ashamed to say your posts made me cry. A personal relationship with God has been a part of my life so long that I tend to take it for granted, I think. Your messages were beautiful and touching and wonderful, thank you so much for sharing. Brooke, you and sglick are my forum mentors, along with CJ. I used to read all the fun posts and want to take part, but I was afraid of being thought rude for butting into ongoing conversations, or boring, or, heaven forbid, weird . Then I remembered that I am weird, and the rest is history . I'm comforted in knowing I'm not the only one who found this game at a time in their lives when they needed a little escape from RL. I came for the game; I stayed for the friendships. Mir, I hope you had a beautiful day as well . And pnp, have no worries about being able to express yourself. You are eloquent and beautiful, and I always look forward to reading your posts, as I look forward to reading everyone's posts. I am thankful for each and every one of you, and appreciate you allowing me to be part of your farm lives .

 

I volunteer at a food pantry and at this time of the year we are always low on food.
When the people went to open the Pantry yesterday(Sat) they found 863lb of sitting on
the front deck waiting for them. What a blessing and we are so Thankful for the group that
donated it.
Happycallie

 

Hi spots! I haven't much time now, but wanted to stop by and say how much I appreciated you putting together this thread! {{hugs}} I guess I never considered myself a mentor to you... just a friend that likes to talk a lot lol!
By the way did you know I nominated you as a Mystery Farmer?? (And Blazie as well as most of the others who have posted here lol!)

@Blazie~ (What can I add to your post?) I love your heart dear and look forward to seeing you on the forum more and more!

@sglick ~ precious one ~ I so admire your courage, openness and honesty. We are so lucky to have a place like this (and your own Lifestyle thread) to connect and be real with others. {{hugs}} You remind me of an onion (in the nicest possible way!) There are layers to your life that you don't often share with people, and I appreciate the glimpses you have given me into your heart.

@ pnp, Brooke, happy, everyone!! {{hugs hugs}} Wishing you all the very best! I have to boot myself off the forum now or I will find myself scrambling for time to get work done later! (Eek!)

So much more I wish I could write...grr! (lol!)

 

I am so honored to be called one member of your farm family!
I believe this forum has brought together so many players and we are a farm family
I wanted also to thank you for the present from your Halloween competition
...I wanted to send you an personal message but never did I find time for it...

 

Time? What's that??? Where can I find this "time"?