The Simple Pleasure of Gratitude (Simple Pleasures; Thankful Thursday; What My Dad Taught Our Family)

This past week didn't turn out quite like I had hoped when I wrote my Counting It All Joy post last week. I am still "counting it all joy".

This is how it went. . .

After 1 night at the nursing home, my dad was taken back to the hospital because his oxygen level was too low for physical therapy.

After a day of being induced, my daughter in-law was sent home and told to return the next night to be admitted and induced the next day after that.

Jocyah Thomas David Hammock was born on Sunday, 10-10-10.

My dad's soul went to heaven Tuesday morning, 10-12-10.

This week, for Simple Pleasures and Thankful Thursday, my daughter says it best. . .

"One thing that really stands out about my Grandpa may sound simple, but has so much truth in it and has taught me so much. Almost every single time I have ever asked my grandpa how he was doing, he would smile and say, "I can't complain." And it's so true. He couldn't. He hardly ever complained, because he was so incredibly thankful with everything God had blessed him with, and it showed in his every day actions, in something as simple as saying, I can't complain". Life is not always going to be easy. Peter writes in his first letter in 4:12-13 "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it come upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed." Jesue tells us that we will endure hardships, but he gives a\us the strength to endure them and they result with him being glorified. My grandpa knew this. He was a man of such strong faith and a huge heart, and I will never forget the love he showed to me and others. By hearing my grandpa constantly say those three words, I realized that life is short. He was right. . .why complain? We really should never have anything to complaing about. And if we do, we should think about the many blessing we have that, by far, overpower those complaints. My grandpa lived a long, full life, but to me, it was till so short. I still wish I had just one more day to go on a walk with him and pick up his neighbors to put on their porches. I would like to have another opportunity to go on a boat ride with him. It would be awesome to watch anothe Arkansas game with him. But life is short, and son't always have the opportunities that we w ould like to have. Therefore, we really need to take advantage of the time we do have, be thankful for it, and not complain. That's what I learned from my grandpa."

What are you thankful for today? Join us in sharing our thankfulness this week by visiting and linking up with our hostess for the month of October-Lynn at "Spiritually Unequal Marriage" and our host, Greg at Greg's General Store and Dayle @ A Collection of This and That for Simple Pleasures ~ Morning's Sun .