A holiday marked by coming together as a happy family and being grateful is a hard holiday for the grieving. But I believe gratitude is a choice, not just a feeling. Here are some of the things I have to be grateful for today.

• Nine years full of wonderful memories with Everett. He continually amazed us and it was an absolute pleasure and honour to be his dad.
• A loving family who supports us and cares for us so well amidst their own grief & pain
• My strong, brave, beautiful wife
• Our 2 kids still with us on earth & the way God has given them such incredible resilience in the face of pain no child should know
• We haven’t been forgotten or unnoticed despite leaving one community to a new community 3 hours away. We could’ve easily been unnoticed and forgotten. Instead, we are receiving so much support from both the north and the south.
• A local church that has welcomed us with open arms
• I still get to be a ‘boy’ daddy. I still have a son to look forward to doing some of the things I loved doing with Everett and looked forward to doing with him in the future.
• The sale on our home in Waterloo closed. We had an extremely stressful sale which carried over to a very stressful closing, but everything worked out in the end.
• Sunshine and fresh air. It does my head, heart & body good.
• An exciting, God-given opportunity for me in the future which should be a great blessing to both me and my family, and help us move forward into a brighter future
• Piper loves her new school and is doing well there.
• Our 2 kittens, Lukey and Fluff. I never imagined I would put cats on a list of things I am grateful for, but they have been comforting & therapeutic to all 4 of us.

• A home and property that needs so much love but has so much potential. Maybe a weird thing to be grateful for, but I enjoy being busy and I think having all these things for me and Amberley to work at together and make beautiful again will help both of us in our healing journeys
• Our physical needs are met
• Sleep
• Technology that has helped us tremendously to not feel alone. So many people have sent us little messages. They mean so much.
• Friends and strangers who continue to pray for us
• The shortest verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept”. We are fully understood
• Romans 8:25-27 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently. And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.
• Someday, we will get to see Everett again. This time, there will be no last goodbye. No pain. No fear. No tears. No night. Endless, forever joy as we worship our Great King for endless days.

Come, Lord Jesus