Friday, November 3, 2006

Thankful

I actually started to write this entry around 4 am this morning, but time passed so quickly and we had to leave for Los Angeles.  I want to talk about thankfulness.  November is a month when we have a chance to remember our gratitude and thankfulness.  Merriam Webster describes it this way:

Main Entry: thank·ful
Pronunciation: 'tha[ng]k-f&l
Function: adjective
1 : conscious of benefit received <for what we are about to receive make us truly thankful>
2 : expressive of thanks <thankful service>
3 : well pleased : GLAD <was thankful that it didn't rain>
- thank·ful·ness noun

I mentioned in my last entry (way too long ago) that I would like it if we all shared our gratitude about two times a week.  I have enough thankfulness to share daily.  It's just too tough for me to do.  So I will make a list and share it twice a week, normally on Tuesdays and Saturdays.  Those who want to join me in this month of thankfulness, can put it in their journals and leave me a link or leave your thankfulnes in my comment section.

       

First this week I want to show my gratitude to U.S. Congressman Elton Gallegly and his staff for working a miracle in our lives.  For nearly two years we have been attempting to obtain Andrea's permanent residence status.  The process is slow to begin with and when we missed an appointment with USCIS lat March, rather than making another appointment as promised, we received a denial notice, telling us that we had abandoned our claim and that Andrea was deported and had to leave the country.  No way was I going to send her back!

As it turned out, Mr Gallegly's office managed to get this appointment for us where no other person could.  15 minutes after the interview started, It was over and Andrea is a permanent. 

We had a lot of prayer about this.  I want to thank  everyone who prayed for us.  Never doubt the power of prayer.  I want to thank Rob Sanders for okaying our petition.

I am so thankful that his is over!  The Lord has been with us all this time, even when we believed we were doomed to start a very expensive process from the beginning.  We are truly grateful that this is over.

These things overwhelm my sense of thankfulness - all I can  say is WOW and Hallelujah!!!  I hope to be back before Tuesday when I will place my thankfulness on my journal again.

Bless all of you and please continue to pray for the little doll pictured above. 

                      


.hlcomplexityorange { color:#CC6600; } a.hlcomplexityorange { text-decoration:none; } a.hlcomplexityorange:hover { text-decoration:underline; }

 

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes!!! Good news, Penny. Glad that is over now, and you can let that worry go forever. She's here to stay. Bea

Anonymous said...

That's so great that Andrea is really permanent now!!!  I'm making happy noises for you all!  2 Things I'm grateful for is all the new friends that God has blessed me with through journaling!  And I'm thankful that my Husband was finally able to afford to take a week off, and that we were able to save up to take our little guy to Disney for the day on his birthday!  We desperately needed (still do) some real family fun time, and I'm very grateful that we got some!!!  HAve a great weekend Penny!  I'm real happy for your family!  Love Carolyn

Anonymous said...

Praise God she is permanent! Hallelujah and amen!

Krissy
http://journals.aol.com/fisherkristina/SometimesIThink

Anonymous said...

Dear Penny
RIght now I want to mention how grate ful I am that my family is doing okay Penny! thank you!
love,natalie

Anonymous said...

I am very glad to see that you had your prayers answered.  It seems the government likes to play games with citizenship denying claims based on bogus reasoning.  We have many illegal aliens in this state that the police and border patrol won't even bother with but people trying to do the right thing are the ones that end up getting the shaft.  I am so glad you got your wish.  Have a fantastic Sunday!

Phil

Anonymous said...

Hi Penny!!!  Very lovely entry!!!  I agree we should all be filled with thankful thoughts this time of year!!  We have so much God has blessed us with.  Hugs,
Lisa

Anonymous said...

The nicest part of that entry was the sentence that said "It was over and Andrea is a permanent."

Terrific news. Something great to be thankful for!

Jimmy

Anonymous said...

Thank God she can stay with you.  Imagine how traumatic it would be for her to go away after all of this time.  
Hope you had a good weekend.
Pam

Anonymous said...

Thankful.  I wrote a full page about the old folks home where I live, telling why I was thankful for living here.  I posted it on the bulletin board and sent copies to the landlord, owner.
  Some few people stopped me in the hall to say they agreed but usually kept their mouths shut because the popular thing here is to COMPLAIN... about the food, about the service, about the rent, about the music in the halls, about the temperature, about the activities.  
  Somehow it is easier to complain than it is to express thanks.  Why is that, and why does it increase with age?

Anonymous said...

I love you Penny! you are so beautiful inside and out!
love,natalie

Anonymous said...

So happy for you! Barbara

Anonymous said...

Aww, congrats on Andrea`s staying!! :)
Hugs,
Penny
http://journals.aol.com/penniepooh/pennys-pieces-of-ohio/

Anonymous said...

How did I miss this entry???? Yeah on Andrea being a 'permanent'! Although, I'm sure she has always been a permanent in your hearts!
http://journals.aol.com/astaryth/AdventuresofanEclecticMind
http://adventuresofaneclecticmind.blogspot.com/