A spirit of thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, friends and family! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with friends and family and were able to reflect on all the blessings you have in your life.

This was my first holiday away from home and I was convinced that I would be a wreck not being able to see my family and participate in all the Thanksgiving activities, but that was not the case at all. I worked Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, so during the day all I did was sleep (people were surprised that I didn't do anything for a Thanksgiving dinner- my reply was that it would require me waking up early and I value sleep over food....most of the time;). I was blessed with awesome patients all three nights and every night God opened my eyes to how grateful I should be. I really felt like I couldn't feel sorry for myself in the least because I'm healthy, I have finances to keep food in my fridge and heat in my apartment, I have a family that loves me, I have a job, and most of all I know the One who made me is with me no matter what, and if I didn't have any of the things listed above, I would still have hope for my future because of Him. 
I've been taking care of two teenage boys for the past week, and both of them have been in the hospital for almost two weeks with no real end in sight and my heart just hurts for them. They are such sweet, fun boys who just want to be in school, hanging out with their friends but they are stuck in the hospital. One of them said to me in all seriousness, 'all I want for Christmas is to get better and get out of here'. I think being sick and in the hospital is hard for any person, but I think teenagers have it the worst because they are old enough to understand what's going on but they are still kids at heart and just want to be able to live their life. Anyway, those two boys really opened my eyes and heart this week and I keep praying that they will be healed so they can go be teenagers and cause trouble;) but also that somehow, they will find the Lord. There is a song that I am obsessed with right now called "Bless the Lord" and one of the lines is: 'Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes'. I pray that even if someday I lose my health, or my job, or someone I love, that I will still be singing praises to Jesus at the end of the day.