Blessings to all of our family & friends,
After enduring the bitterness of winter, the early colonists decided to hold a feast, celebrating their survival and giving thanks to God for his protection and provisions throughout the past months. It was a spontaneous celebration of praise. God had turned their hardship and sorrow and pain into gratitude and health and joy!
Today is the day that we thank God for the world that we live in and all of its wonderful creations. We thank him also for his guidance that gives us direction. We thank him also for our daily lives with all of its pleasures, achievements and challenges! And, we also thank him for food, clothing, shelter, our families and friends, our community and our country.
Let us count our blessings today and be grateful for what God has done in our lives!
Today is Thanksgiving. It is the day that we thank God for ALL of our blessings. TODAY I especially thanked God for ALL OF YOU! I thanked God also for Jessica's doctors and nurses. Especially for the team of doctors here in Mexico. Especially for Dr. Cantu (Dr. "Green Shirt"), Dr. Zavala (Dr. "Rainbow"), Dr. Barrientos (Dr. "Luigi"), Dr. Ramos (Dr. "Medusa"), Dr. Cynthia (Dr. Cynthia "Lyme"), Dr. Ramirez (Dr. "Rumolo"), & Dr. Castelleja (Dr. "Fernando-the younger"). We would also like to thank her doctors in the states, especially Dr. Liegner, Dr. Finklestein, Dr. Kirkpatrick, Dr. Bransfield, Dr. Bottino, Dr. David, Dr. Epstein & Dr. Neugarten. This year has been an extraordinary year in so many ways for our family! We would not be here today if it wasn't for all of the love, support, and compassion shown by all of you!
We are humbled by such an outpouring of love for Jessica, our oldest daughter and for the trial she has had to face! For the support given to David, Michelle and Katherine in our absence from all of our family and friends! And, we are comforted by the compassion shown by strangers we have never met, through all of their prayers and kind donations!
So, Today, we wish you all a very Happy & Healthy Thanksgiving! Please know how very grateful and thankful we are to ALL of you for EVERYTHING you have done for us this past year! Together with your love and that of our heavenly Father above, we will be victorious so that one day our Jessica will be well enough to stroll the beaches in Naples and walk the avenues of N.Y. once again! May God bless you all!
In Thanksgiving & Praise,
The Stevens Family
David, Sarah Gina, Jessica, Katherine & Michelle
and our dogs Molly & Chloe too!
Phillipians 1:3-4
'I THANK GOD EVERY TIME I REMEMBER YOU. IN ALL MY PRAYERS FOR ALL OF YOU, I ALWAYS PRAY WITH JOY"!
Phillipians 4: 6
'DO NOT BE ANXIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING, BUT IN EVERYTHING, BY PRAYER & PETITION, WITH THANKSGIVING, PRESENT YOUR REQUEST TO GOD".
***To post a Comment, CLICK on Comments Below***
jessica and mommy,
ReplyDeletei love the turkey!!!! Happy Thanksgiving! It doesnt feel like thanksgiving without you guys! Mommy isnt in the kitchen at eight o'clock in the morning making the turkey!! i just hope that you have a great thanksgiving in Mexico!!
Love,
Michelle
May you find a way to celebrate Thanksgiving today at the hospital. Maybe the kitchen will make you something special! :)
ReplyDeleteYou have so many things to be thankful for as well as petition for an even better Thanksgiving celebration next year in your own home with your friends and family. I pray that it will be an awesome celebration when God finishes his healing in you, Jessica. It is hard to remain patient and I would imagine that at times like this, you feel it a little more deeply. In Canada, we celebrate Thanksgiving day in October. Like your mom, I found myself thinking of all the good friends and strangers, medical staff and family that have rallied to see me well. This is a battle I still continue to fight today but I feel that it is happening in a positive way. I know that you sense that as well even when the days are long and the struggle is so very hard.
You will be soon meeting a new coma patient. I am not sure when they will be arriving but I will be in contact with them today to give them some guidance and support as they prepare to leave. Her name is Elena and she suffers full body RSD. Take good care of her and her husband when they arrive, you are an ambassador there! :)
Sending you both a virtual and very gentle hug for the day. God bless you and have a very very good day today
Fern
To my dear sweet Jessica and Sarah Gina,
ReplyDeleteI hold you both so tight in my heart and thoughts today. I am thankful that you both (and the rest of the Stevens family) came into my life over five years ago. This walk you are all taking is an incredible one but it is one that so many of us are learning from. Your words, your thoughts and your dreams are something so many people gain strength from. Please know how much I love you both and how much God loves you as well. Hold tight to eachother today.
My love...
My hugs...
My prayers...
My tears...
Nita
Happy Thanksgiving! My family and I will be thinking of you! Crystal
ReplyDeleteFrom Pastor David Wilkerson of the Times Square Church, NYC:
ReplyDeleteIn our times of trial and temptation, Satan comes to us bringing lies: “You’re surrounded now and there is no way out. Greater servants than you have quit in circumstances no worse than this. Now it’s your turn to go down. You’re a failure, otherwise you wouldn’t be going through this. There’s something wrong with you and God is sorely displeased.”
In the midst of his trial, Hezekiah acknowledged his helplessness. The king realized he had no strength to stop the voices raging at him, voices of discouragement, threats and lies. He knew he couldn’t deliver himself from the battle, so he sought the Lord for help. And God answered by sending the prophet Isaiah to Hezekiah with this message: “The Lord has heard your cry. Now, tell the Satan at your gate, ‘You’re the one who is going down. By the way you came here, you will also go out.’”
Hezekiah had very nearly fallen for the enemy’s trick. The fact is, if we don’t stand up to Satan’s lies—if, in our hour of crisis, we don’t turn to faith and prayer, if we don’t draw strength from God’s promises of deliverance—the devil will zero in on our wavering faith and intensify his attacks.
Hezekiah gained courage from the word he received, and he was able to say to Sennacherib in no uncertain terms: “Devil king, you did not blaspheme me. You liked to God himself. My Lord is going to deliver me. And because you blasphemed him, you will face his wrath!”
The Bible tells us that God supernaturally delivered Hezekiah and Judah on that very night: “It came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses” (2 Kings 19:35).
Believers today stand not just on a promise but also on the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And in that blood we have victory over every sin, temptation and battle we will ever face. Maybe you’ve received a letter from the devil lately. I ask you: Do you believe God has the foreknowledge to anticipate your every trial? Your every foolish move? Your every doubt and fear? If so, you have the example of David before you, who prayed, “This poor man cried, and the Lord delivered him.” Will you do the same?
Happy Thanksgiving
David Stevens
Happy Thanksgiving Jessica and Gina! We are so thankful for all of God's blessings. Know that you are always in our thoughts and prayers. Love to all!!
ReplyDeleteMarianne & Rob
Dear Stevens Family,
ReplyDeleteI give thanks for all of you. You are a blessing and an inspiration. Thanks be to God!
With love,
Linda Wardley
Hang in there Jessica.
ReplyDeleteOur thoughts are prayers are with you!!!
You are the strongest person I have ever meet!!!
Jeff
Dear Jessica,
ReplyDeleteWe have sold over 40 necklaces in the first week and it was only a half week!
There is nothing we can say, except we love your strength, we pray for you and think of you every day. (Okay, maybe Tristen thinks of Lego more, but he is only 3)
Our love to you from Brian, Michelle, Alicia and Tristen Mah