Eileen is Grateful

I'm glad I have the opportunity to participate in A Thankful Woman's Book of Blessings this week.  I really don't have as much time to blog as I would like.  If there is anything on my blog, I want it to include the things I am thankful for in my life.  It helps me to keep my chin up...even in the midst of suffering or confusion.  For example, you will note that some of us are experiencing some health difficulties this week.  This can really be depressing.  Acknowledging the hardship, asking for prayers, and trying to persevere through the difficulties by trying to realize we've made progress, however small, gives hope for the future.  Here is my list of things I am thankful for this past week:

1)  I thought my son would not need surgery for his broken collar bone.  Upon returning to the Orthopedic, he realized it was not healing properly.  Therefore, my son came home from college to have the surgery.  I was worried about him returning to school with his arm in a sling.  I called him to see how he was doing and I had nothing to fear after all.  For this I am truly grateful.  He only has one arm that is fully functional.

2)  I am grateful for the huge Catholic swim meet at Villanova my daughter was able to participate in this past weekend.  She also qualified to be in two more individual events at an upcoming meet this coming weekend.  The girls really have a good time at this event.

3)  I am thankful that I was able to attend the parent interview this morning for my younger daughter to be accepted to Catholic high school.  The admissions director used to homeschool too.  She confirmed that religion is central to the mission of the school.  This is music to my ears!

4)  It has been so good for my five year old to do his work ever since I've created a checklist for him.  He has become much better at completed his daily work ever since.  This is his checklist:

     1.  Prayer
     2.  Journal
     3.  Math
     4.  Phonics
     5.  Reading
     6.  Science
     7.  Map Skills
     8.  History

5)  I'm grateful that my oldest son told me he was praying for me because I have a bunch of medical procedures to go through to see what is causing my anemia.  I'm also still trying to get rid of the last lingering bits of an awful head cold.  I have symptoms from the iron I'm taking that make it difficult to eat.  Please remember to pray for physical healing for me so that I have more energy to serve my family.  Sometimes I just have to collapse in the middle of the day for a nap.