Ten Things of Thankful - What can I say more? It's miraculous!

Have you ever said goodbye to an object?  This is not just goodnight to an object, like in the children's book, Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown, but goodbye.  It is a farewell to a large object that brings me once again to linking up to the blog hop Ten Things of Thankful, after months of not participating.

A lot has transpired over these months, some wonderful, and others quite challenging physically and emotionally, but such are the trials of life.  Now on to the Ten Things of Thankful from this past week!

1 - 3. The sale of my Mom's house is final!  Yeah!
My Mom is still in a nursing home and nearing 100 years of age in a few months.  Funds for her care have been dwindling so something needed to be done in order to continue making payments at the nursing home.

June 23, 2016 I met with a realtor about getting my Mom's house on the market to sell.  As it so happened it was really a seller's market.  I agreed with the realtor that having the home staged would be worth it and would make it possible to sell the home quickly.  Hubby and I moved the furniture and belongings into the garage over a three-day period just before leaving on a trip to Alaska.  We were thankful for the help of a couple of strong young missionaries from the church who helped moved some of the heavier items into the garage for us.

While we were gone, the staging company got started with putting in new carpet throughout the house, doing some painting in a couple of rooms, updating the appearance of the kitchen and the bathrooms and staging the home with some furnishings more current to today's market.  The stagers had completed the process a couple of weeks after we returned.

One of our daughters drove up from California to help us with the estate sale.  I truly wouldn't have been able to do it without her insight and help.  To say I was a  little overwhelmed by all the furniture and boxes of belongings we had moved into the garage that they all somehow needed to be unpacked and arranged into some semblance of order ready for shoppers is putting it mildly. . .very mildly!  My husband was a huge help too.  His very presence and manning the cash box, etc. was a huge support to me.  The sale was a two-day sale.  The listing took place and showings began that day as we began holding the estate sale in the garage.  On the first day of showing there were seven offers!  The best offer came from a cash buyer who was selling his home.  The sale of Mom's house was complete on Friday, Oct. 7, 2016.

The title company and realtor said this was the smoothest sale and quickest without hitches, etc.  that they had seen in a long time.  I told them that a lot of prayers had been being said praying that this sale would be completed in a very timely manner.  They laughed a little and asked if I would pray for the rest of their sales.

As you can see there are a lot of other items of gratitude mentioned in this account that cover more than just last week, but I'm going to count them.

4-5. Autumn with cooler days and soupThere have been some soup recipes that I'd been wanting to try, and the time finally came when it was cool enough for me to not only make it but to want to eat hot soup.  Thanks to my husband's help in chopping some of the vegetables, I made a couple of large pots of detox soups this week.  (Back in February I fell and broke a bone in my right arm near my shoulder.  Chopping food is still a little difficult for me.) A detox soup is made by combining a lot of delicious fresh finely cut vegetables, legumes, and broth together, slow cooking them and  blending some of the soup so it is easily digested. It was just what I needed.

6.  Fall apples and grapesWe and the deer and a few bugs are enjoying our fresh apples and grapes.  We do not spray the trees, but there is plenty for all.

7.  Pumpkin, anything pumpkin
So far this week I had a couple of small pumpkin-pie milkshakes, part of a pumpkin doughnut, an a piece of pumpkin pie. The pie was served to the residents at the nursing home who went into the dining hall to listen to a wonderful guest who brought his keyboard and played oldie goldie big-band dance music.  The newest piece was one written in 1953.  I think I enjoyed the music and the pie just as much as my Mom and the other residents!

8.  Walking on the treadmill and using the exercise bike
For much of the summer our treadmill was unusable, but now it is fixed, and I'm taking a little time each day to do some walking on it.  I'm gingerly starting to use the exercise bike again too.  It remains to be seen if the exercise bike is a good thing for me at this time.  I can already see some benefit from walking on the treadmill though.

9.  Rain and protection while traveling on slick roads
We been teased with some drizzle ever so often in September and October, but it wasn't until this past week that we had enough rain to thoroughly soak the ground.  The dried earth is even beginning to show signs and starting to green up again.  With the hard rains pounding on the roads and making contact with oil which may have dropped from vehicles over the summer, there is always a chance of drivers losing control of their vehicles.  That was the case one day this past week when I passed by three wrecks with emergency responders already on the scene.  I always pray for the injured and the families of the injured as well as those who have been called to the scene to help.  Although I don't know those who have been injured, nor those who are helping, I know there is power in prayer.  Seeing a wreck is always a reminder to me to me extra careful and to also say a prayer for other drivers as well.

10.  Where there was destruction, there were also miraculous events
A young couple I know were expecting their first child.  The due date of the child was today, but a few days ago they were ordered to evacuate the area in which they lived. They left and prayed that the baby would wait until they could get to a safer place.  They had made reservations at a hotel 100 miles inland.  When they arrived, they were told the hotel had cancelled their reservations and didn't have a room for them.  Due to an amazing set of circumstances, they learned that there was a couple in the area who had agreed to let them stay at their home.  The owners weren't even supposed to be there at that time, but their visas hadn't arrived for them to use on an intended trip.  The mother-to-be went into labor that  night, but when they went to the hospital, they were told that the hospital didn't have an obstetrics department.  The couple drove 30 miles away to another hospital where eventually the baby girl was delivered safely.  Mother and baby and doing fine.  This story took place during Hurricane Matthew.  I know there were many who were praying for this young couple, as well as for those they didn't even know who were living in the areas where the storm hit.  I'm so thankful for those who were spared, and sorrow for those  who lost loved ones and experienced destruction from the storm.