I have a team that prays for my writing and I can’t describe how much they mean to me. They have covered me, my family, and the words I write (or don’t) for over a decade.

Recently I shared an update and someone reflected on my year and health struggles.

-Two scopes because of stomach issues

-Needed to buy a cane after vacation because I emotionally froze to the point I could not walk.

-Had bronchitis most of August and was too weak to take my daughter to school for a week.

Add it’s been a year since mom asked me to come to town to help her for a couple days and I ended up staying two months because we nearly lost her. Sadly, in January as she was recovering so well, she passed.

It’s been stressful, and I’m pretty sure all the health issues go right back to the trauma and grief.

Yet, as I prayed, there was a theme.

God is good.

Our family is in good health despite the pandemic. My husband isn’t just working, but has a new position he loves. We are being provided for. Our son graduated college and passed his certification exam. He’s engaged and ready to start substitute teaching. Our daughter turned eighteen and is a senior in high school seeking God’s will. I serve in a youth group where these teens are thrown the most impossible situations, and they keep showing up, trusting Jesus. We have grown children and four grandchildren that are healthy and doing well.

I never want to take His goodness for granted. No matter what I read or hear in the news, and boy lately it’s been heartbreaking, He is still good. I might not understand it all, but I know enough about Jesus to know He is good. It is Him.

When the bronchitis was so bad I couldn’t leave bed and my chest was so tight it was hard to breathe, I remember just saying thank you to Jesus.

I don’t know how the rest of the year will go. I feel like I’ve rounded a corner in grief and better times are ahead. Still, no matter what I face, I want to keep in the forefront God’s goodness.

How about you? What are you going through? Have you been able to praise God through it? I challenge you to be thankful. It might take some thought, but trust me, there is always something to be thankful for. Even if you only can realize God is good, that’s enough!