theadanews.com - Ada, Oklahoma

Columns

November 24, 2010

It’s time again to count our many blessings

Dorothy Milligan Byng Correspondent Ada Evening News

Ada — “Count your many blessings; name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done” is the first line of an old familiar hymn that we Baptists sing often at this time of year.  Somehow, no matter how many bad, ugly, embarrassing or foolish things that have happened to us  within the past few months or days we’re always able to shove those items aside in our minds and be sincerely grateful for all the good things we haven’t deserved that have come our way and to be even more thankful that we haven’t been nailed to the wall for all our sins of omission and have been given another chance to do better next time.

I’m always glad to see Thanksgiving time roll around again, and I glory in the modest and unassuming non-commercial nature of the holiday.  It’s a time for seeing family and friends and lettting them know how much we love them.  We don’t have unrealistic expectations of anybody, including ourselves.   If you really enjoy cooking all the traditional Thanksgiving dishes, fine. Help yourself!  If, on the other hand, you’re like my dear friend who is glad she has a big oven because it’s an excellent place to store all her unstained recipe books that’s all right, too.  There are plenty of potluck dinners to attend at which only one food item is expected, and nobody insists that it be homemade.

Thanksgiving seems a particularly blessed holiday this year though I was saddened and disappointed when my son Ralph Milligan suffered a recurrence of leukemia after being in remission six months.  He underwent another round of chemo at Mercy Hospital in OKC.  He faces bone marrow transplant within a few weeks if a donor can be found, and transplant is a risky and tedious ordeal that ordinarily calls for several months of complete isolation in a sterile environment.  We feel blessed, however, because he finally persuaded his doctor to allow him to return to his home near Kingston and to be treated on an out-patient basis at Integris Hospital in Madill.  We are reminded of how precious and fragile life is on this planet and how we must take one day at a time.  He does feel well, and we are so grateful that he is not in pain.

I think about friends and acquaintances who are presently suffering from painful cancer-- Lilie Mae Sellers, Cindy Balthrop, Elvin Jaquess and Tom Slick to name a few--and my heart goes out to them and their families.  We would appreciate prayers from you for my son and for all those who are afflicted by the scourge of cancer.

When I count my blessings, I am always thankful that I live in the USA.  Despite the recent negative political campaign, people had an opportunity to express their will, and we have so many advantages that go with being citizens of a free country.  We may groan when we go to the grocery store and see that food products have increased in price by at least a third within the past two “no inflation” years; we still are able to eat well and we are far richer than ordinary citizens anywhere else in the world.

I am also grateful that I live in Byng community.  I am thankful for New Bethel Church and our Thanksgiving dinner (which is Sunday afternoon, November 21 following a five p.m. sermon.)  I also look forward to our community service on Tuesday night, Nov. 23 at the Assembly of God church.  It is good to see neighbors that I haven’t had a chance to visit with during the past several months.  It is good to see that the three other churches of our community are plugging along just as we are.  They may differ from us in a few minor points, but in essentials we are the same.

I am also appreciative of the Heritage Bank in Byng.  In these days of an almost cashless society, some might think I’d have little dealings with a community bank, but I’ve had my account there ever since the Byng bank was established. I’m appreciative of their drive-through service when I decide I need to cash a check at 7:30 a.m. or at 5 p.m.  I’m glad the teller knows me and calls me by name even before she sees my identification.  When I get their newsletter with my regular monthly statement, I read every word and enjoy a nice warm feeling that MY bank is doing well.  This month I noted that the Byng bank now has an ATM.

I smiled and said to myself, “That’s nice!”  I have never used an ATM in my entire life, but it’s good to know that if I wanted an ATM card I could get one and have cash readily available.

I still miss Rick and Sandy Woodward when I need something from Rick’s Body Shop, but I have to admit that Russell Whitlock is doing a good job as his successor. He has the same friendly, accommodating spirit that was characteristic of Rick.  It’s good to know that the tragic wreck that took Rick and Sandy’s lives did not destroy the service that they always gave to the community.

If space permitted, I could go on and on in counting my many blessings and naming them one by one, but I think it is sufficient to say that I am happy and content on this holiday in November 2010. I can’t wait to see what further blessings the Lord has in store for me and you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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