Thankfulness

My main facility went through their “mock survey” yesterday and today–the time of the year when people from other facilities and from the regional and district offices come to rip us up and down in preparation for state surveys.

The goal is to find what needs to be fixed and either fix it or at least have a plan in place by the time state comes knocking at our doors.

But what mock survey usually means is a whole lot of stress and coming out feeling like you’ve been chewed up and spit out.

Which is why, this week I’m thankful…

…for a limited amount of tags (Tags are the “gotchas” the survey team hands out.)

…for a dietitian surveyor who is a former classmate (It’s always nice to catch up–and Lindsay was very good to walk me through my first mock survey.)

…for no holes in my documentation (I generally find at least one thing per day that I think I probably should be doing, doing more of, or doing better at. I am grateful that the mock survey did not point out anything more.)

…for a wonderful management team that I truly enjoy being a part of

…for great charge nurses who do a fantastic job of notifying me of changes, allowing me to catch problems before they become huge issues

…for getting something done in the last couple of days–I never dreamed I would actually be able to do some of my own work while surveyors were here!

…for non-busy times at the other facilities and accommodating Executive Directors who are willing to let me spend an extra day in Columbus in the upcoming few weeks so that I can stay on top of changes in this facility.

…for the Sovereign God who directs the cosmos and takes the time to work out the details of MY little-ole-mock-survey. :-)

It seems I never have enough time. It seems that my to do list never lacks tasks.

It would seem that there is a disconnect between the two–too many tasks, too little time.

Yet whatever tasks I put on my list and whatever time I plan to have, God divinely ordains both–and ordains them such that I have exactly the time I need to fulfill the tasks He has for me.

This week I’m thankful…

…for an extra snatch of time to visit my folks in Lincoln this weekend–to see a movie together, to sit and chat, to eat with what family is still in Nebraska

…for a recipe for cobbler that just fit the time I had for it on Sunday morning

…for a delightful time of celebrating with my flock–just enjoying one another’s company at a potluck after church

…for early mornings at work and the extra productivity they bring

…for earlier returns home and the relaxation that brings

…for a reminder to bathe before Bible study last night

…for a riotous after-Bible-study discussion (which made me really glad I’d bathed before–we didn’t get home ’til midnight!)

…for early morning awakenings (I’m so grateful to have not overslept!)

…for ridiculously busy days at work and the grace I’m learning to extend to myself (Going home after ten hours even if all my work’s not done)

…for the anticipation of this weekend, when I’ll sit down with one of our elders and his wife to discuss doctrine and church membership

And I’m thankful again for the God who sovereignly directs both my tasks and my time, fitting each together to accomplish His divine plan.

Producers are always eager to have buyers purchase the “new and improved” version of everything they see.

And some buyers are eager to get every “new and improved” version.

Others are more nostalgic, constantly longing for the “same old, same old”–and resisting new innovations whenever they come.

I prefer to grasp tight to the nostalgic past, reach towards the ever expanding future–and keep my feet firmly planted in today.

This week I’m thankful…

…for the new and improved DVD player that showed up on my doorstep this morning. (I installed it this evening–and now, for the first time in quite a while, I can actually watch a DVD on my computer if I want to.)

…for the new and improved work schedule I’ve created for myself. (I get my work done so much better if I go into the office early, before others arrive. Now I just need to leave at a corresponding time instead of just staying ten or more hours.)

…for the new and improved book Now, Discover Your Strengths that my boss bought me (and the rest of her direct reports. Many people might be less than excited to have reading assigned them from a boss. I’m ecstatic.)

…for the same old same old Bible that I’ve been reading since my trip to Sweden in 2003. (It’s worn, it’s torn, it’s been dropped in the toilet–but it’s also got my notes, my underlinings, and memories of the peaks and the valleys God’s brought me through.)

…for the same old same old routines that make dealing with the less-routine parts of work life less bothersome (It’s amazing how routines impose their own calm amidst turmoil.)

…for the same old same old computer that I’ve been using since I started college–that hasn’t yet given up the ghost.

Most of all, I’m thankful for the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever–but Who is so immense, so unfathomable that my knowledge of Him can be new and improved every day!

It’s been a long week, a busy week. I don’t have time or energy to be long. So I’ll just offer these spare words of thanks.

This week I’m thankful…

…for unexpected guests who didn’t stay long

…for hosts and hostesses who don’t mind that I’ve stayed long

…for non-alcoholic hilarity on a Wednesday night

…for prescriptions transferred and picked up

…for whites to be tie-dyed purchased

…for food on the stove to be eaten

And for a God who is on the throne, above every power of this earth.

I didn’t plan to find myself in Columbus, Nebraska. I interviewed for a job in Omaha–and got offered a job here.

A head-hunter matched my sister Anna to a job here.

Few of us really CHOSE to find ourselves in the east central part of Nebraska, in the greater Columbus area.

But here we are. And for that I am thankful.

This week, I’m thankful…

…for baking with my sister, her reading aloud from The Pioneer Woman Cooks while I dropped muffin batter into tins and rolled warm muffins in butter and sugar

…for Pampered Chef parties where Anna and Ruth and I bite our tongues while the rep tries to convince me that I should be a rep myself (If someone has just told you that she teaches cooking on a college level and that she regularly advises her students that they don’t need all the gadgets sold by companies like Pampered Chef…you probably SHOULDN’T suggest that if she’d just try your products she might just learn that “they’re not a want, they’re a need.”)

…for large hunks of beef and friends who will cut them into steaks for you (and laugh at you for rendering your own tallow from the trimmed fat.)

…for great reminders at Bible study that all work can be sanctified work (Thanks, Beth) and that it’s easy to lose focus at work but putting up reminders for yourself can help (Thanks, Teresa).

…for upcoming parties–hanging out this weekend with another who’ll be around town, a Valentines Party next month, drinks at my house in March (featuring SimplyThick!)

…for the Providence of God that brought me–and these–into this dinky little town at such a time as this

“Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” Job 2:10

The words trickled into my mind as I told my sister of my thankfulness that I had not yet experienced a bilious emesis (vomiting small intestine contents.)

I was forced to accept the truth of these words and follow up: “But if God should grant me a bilious emesis, I shall thank Him for it.”

This week, I am thankful…

…that God is sovereign over both health and sickness–and that He will conform me to His image with whatever means He pleases

…that God is a gracious designer who has formed my immune system to work exactly as it is

…that God is merciful and never gives me more than I can handle (even when my whole GI tract is cramping and I can barely force myself to take in fluids)

…that God grants reprieve through a few moments of sleep here and there and a book that occasionally takes my mind off the pain my body is feeling

…that, as of yet, I have not experienced a bilious emesis. Stomach contents have come up, small intestine contents have gone down–and God is sovereignly wise and unfailing gracious, even should that circumstance change.