Tag: Thanksgiving

A Sober Thanksgiving

angelus

The blog below was written in 2013. Even five years later, there is much to be thankful for. Although this Thanksgiving is a somber one for me personally, and for our state due to the immeasurable trauma from the fires, there is some room for thanksgiving.

November 2013

Wow, Halloween came and went. October came and went. What a whisking whirlwind the beginning of fall was. I was driving up Skyline Drive just two nights ago….early November…and I saw a Christmas tree in someone’s window.  Whaaat?? Already. There is a special holiday that sometimes gets drowned between the ghosts and goblins, and the tinsel and trees. My mom is saddened that Thanksgiving is overlooked. Well, this next column is dedicated to the sentiment, the emotion, which has its own holiday, a sentiment that I hope my children cultivate, and an emotion that Henry Ward Beecher so delightfully expresses:

“The unthankful heart… discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!”

I’ve strove to be grateful and appreciate all that has come my way. I know I take much for granted, but there is much for which I am deeply and truly grateful. Here are a few things.

Over five years ago, I had to go on assistance. This was a hard decision to make and I had to swallow a lot of pride, but it was necessary for me and my family. Actually, I should have done it much sooner. I want to say thank you to the taxpayers who support this government that provides this service to those who are in need.  I am slowly weaning myself off assistance and am glad to be working and paying taxes to replenish at least a fraction of what I used. Nonetheless, I am thankful to have had this resource available, and I thank the community for supporting this program.

I am thankful for the many friends I have in my life. To those who have given me emotional and prayer support as I raise these kids on my own, I thank you. My Facebook friends have encouraged me in my writing. Thank you. I am thankful to my family and all the help they have given me. And, of course, my ten children and one son-in-law. In countless ways, great and small, they bless me, they love me, they honor me and they are my greatest gifts.

Finally, and supremely, I am grateful to the God who is. I am grateful for his creation that I thoroughly enjoy. In Pacifica, we are beyond spoiled with natural beauty. The ocean with her perpetual pounding, peridot-colored waves is but an earthly example of an eternal entity. I am grateful to a church that has been entrusted with the Gospel, the good news, and its noble and transcendent themes: redemption, reconciliation, eternal life and love. All I can do is echo the psalmist’s declaration: “O taste and see that the Lord is good.”

Even in my trials and afflictions, I can be thankful, I stumbled on this verse from Psalm 119 during a dark time of my life: “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn your statutes.” (v. 71) As difficult as it was to be thankful for the trials in my life, I have learned that those times have yielded the precious fruit of patience, trust and an increased faith.

I hope my children learn to be grateful and be thankful for all the benefits, as well as the difficulties, that come their way each day.

“For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Kind and Resourceful Friend

prc

These words are as true as they were four years ago. Marina and her crew continue to work tirelessly for those in need in our community. THANK YOU!!

November 2011

Three and a half years ago, I returned to Pacifica from the East Bay. I lived there for 15 years, and had hoped to finish raising my kids over there.

However, circumstances drove me from my home to return to the area where I was raised. Most of my family lives on this side of the Bay. Once I got my children situated in school over here, I thought it would be a breeze getting a job. This was in the fall of 2008. After three dozen resumes, I still was jobless and was forced to find some assistance.

I don’t remember how I heard about the Pacifica Resource Center, but I went there feeling very defeated and hopeless. I always tried my best to take care of my bills and my family’s needs on my own. But now I was in a situation where I needed outside help. I tried to put off getting assistance because I could do it on my own, right? Well, not always, and not at this time.

I met with Marina at the Pacifica Resource Center and she signed me up for Second Harvest. She, in her sympathetic and understanding way, helped me with some groceries and informed me of other programs throughout the county. However, there were things that Marina failed to do. She failed to pass judgment, act smugly, or look down on my circumstances. She was very compassionate and caring. For that I will always be grateful.

The Resource Center helped when my children went back to school the following fall. They helped with backpacks, school supplies and gift cards for necessary clothing items. They helped with extra Thanksgiving food boxes, and they have a special Holiday Gift program also.

During this time of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for not only the help my family has received from the Pacifica Resource Center, but the intangibles too. I am thankful for their kindness, their thoughtfulness and their genuine concern for me and my family’s well-being. Marina has always greeted me with a smile, and is always enthusiastic about my family’s progress.

For those who give to charitable organizations at this time of year and you are undecided to which you should give your money, I would like to suggest the Pacifica Resource Center. During these hard economic times, the Resource Center is greatly needed and is a haven for those of us who need more than staples.

Kindness, thoughtfulness and hope are all commodities we need and happily they are without an expiration date. I am glad I have a kind and resourceful friend in Marina and the Pacifica Resource Center.

 

10 Things I Hope My Children Learn: No. 3 – Gratitude

Thanksgiving-Cornucopia-word-art

Wow, Halloween came and went. October came and went. What a whisking whirlwind the beginning of fall was. I was driving up Skyline Drive just two nights ago….early November…and I saw a Christmas tree in someone’s window.  Whaaat?? Already. There is a special holiday that sometimes gets drowned between the ghosts and goblins, and the tinsel and trees. My mom is saddened that Thanksgiving is overlooked. Well, this next column is dedicated to the sentiment, the emotion, which has its own holiday, a sentiment that I hope my children cultivate, and an emotion that Henry Ward Beecher so delightfully expresses:

“The unthankful heart… discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!”

I’ve been called an ingrate a few times in my life and to combat or correct this accusation, in reality as well in the echoing corridors of my mind, I’ve strove to be grateful, to appreciate all that has come my way. I know I take much for granted, but there is much for which I am deeply and truly grateful. Here are a few things.

Over five years ago, I had to go on assistance. This was a hard decision to make and I had to swallow a lot of pride, but it was necessary for me and my family. Actually, I should have done it much sooner. I want to say thank you to the taxpayers who support this government that provides this service to those who are in need.  I am slowly weaning myself off assistance and am glad to be working and paying taxes to replenish at least a fraction of what I used. Nonetheless, I am thankful to have had this resource available, and I thank the community for supporting this program.

I am thankful for the many friends I have in my life. To those who have given me emotional and prayer support as I raise these kids on my own, I thank you. My Facebook friends have encouraged me in my writing. Thank you. I am thankful to my family and all the help they have given me, for my parents, especially, who help me considerably…daily. My sister, my greatest advocate and sounding board, I am so thankful for. And, of course, my ten children and one son-in-law. In countless ways, great and small, they bless me, they love me, they honor me and they are my greatest gifts.

Finally, and supremely, I am grateful to the God who is. I am grateful for his creation that I thoroughly enjoy. In Pacifica, we are beyond spoiled with natural beauty. The ocean with her perpetual pounding peridot-colored waves is but an earthly example of an eternal entity. I am grateful to a church that has been entrusted with the Gospel, the good news, and its noble and transcendent themes: redemption, reconciliation, eternal life and love. All I can do is echo the psalmist’s declaration: “O taste and see that the Lord is good.”

Even in my trials and afflictions, I can be thankful, I stumbled on this verse from Psalm 119 during a dark time of my life: “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn your statutes.” (v. 71) As difficult as it was to be thankful for the trials in my life, I have learned that those times have yielded the precious fruit of patience, trust and an increased faith.

I hope my children learn to be grateful and be thankful for all the benefits that come their way each day.

“For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson