Thankful, Thankful, Thankful…

Last night I was almost giddy as I thought 
about Thanksgiving in the hospital today.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  
Yes, I even love it more than Christmas. 
I love the traditions that we have to celebrate it
and I love that we spend a day just being thankful.
So although we are unable to really partake in our annual traditions, 
I was giddy that we could celebrate this 
Thanksgiving in Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Giddy that we have a our precious baby girl “home” and healing.
Giddy that Ruby has had four (one in Africa} 
successful brain surgeries.
Giddy that even though Ruby had serious 
complications over last week-end, she is healing.
Giddy that we would be entrusted by God
 to parent little Miss Ruby Grace {at our age!}.
And as anyone who has been stopping by our Place Called Simplicity for any length of time knows…
this year was not without it’s deep trials and struggles.
July 17th forever changed everyone who loved Karl Hujus. 
And yet, to see what Almighty God did to spare Karl’s life.
Only Him.
Faithful.
Karl and Autumn came last week-end for
 two nights to visit and meet Ruby.
They were able to bring our Savannah
 {oh how I hated to see them all go}.
And yes, I kept hugging Karl.  I told him, “I’m sorry, Karl, for the rest of my life I will be hugging  you more than most.  You’re just gonna’ have to get used to it.” 
I asked Autumn if I could finally{!}post a picture of Karl.  
Emma’s been going to do a photo shoot of them 
since Karl’s been out of the rehabilitation hospital…soon! 
 But in the meantime, 
here is a sneak peak at our Miracle Karl!

Lastly,
when Jubilee’s ear situation was discovered in August the surgeon in San Francisco said he needed us there ‘yesterday’.  Yes, it was serious.  Little did we know that when he got in to operate they discovered that it had eaten her mastoid all the way to a sliver away from her brain.
Another nick-o-time miracle.
Sparing the life of our precious Jubilee Promise.
So this Thanksgiving you can see why I feel so giddy. 
Ruby Grace’s life was spared and she is healing.
Karl’s life was spared and he is alive and healing.
Jubilee Promise’s life was spared and she is healing.
No doubt, we have some extra special 
real-life-only-Almighty-God-could-do-it 
miracle reasons to celebrate!
What about you?

Please share what you are especially 
thankful for this year.

I would love to rejoice before the Lord with you….
Happy Thanksgiving from Phoenix Children’s where Ruby has been smiling and cooing this morning,
Mommy and Ruby 
xo

36 thoughts on “Thankful, Thankful, Thankful…

  1. I am Thankful for you and your family.
    You continually challenge me to rethink and look at things in different way.

    there is to much more to list, Happy Thanksgiving Linny,

    "o" one more thing, I would be very thankful if you would let DW out of the crawl space to write on his blog once in a while…:o) just saying!!!

  2. Praising God with you!

    First, I've seen my oldest son return to the Lord. It's been a long slow journey. God is faithful.

    I'm 55 years old and single and called to adopt.
    I'm single – China Waiver
    I'm adopting a child greater than 45years younger than myself by 39 days – China waiver and I'm the only one that I know of that has received this so far as far as I can tell from the web/blog world.
    I take Cymbalta for menopausal symptoms,another China no, no. Yep, China waiver!
    I am a single and I've been approved to bring home two girls- yes, another China waiver.

    God has opened doors that no man could close on behalf of my girls!

    Another biggie, so far God as provided the funds that I have not had to borrow anything, despite not being able to apply for many grants and loans because I'm single.

    Sorry this was so long! My prayers continue for Ruby, Sarah, and the rest of your family! Your testimony to God's greatness is such a blessing to me!

    Happy Thanksgiving! God is good – all the time!

  3. Dear friend, you have much to be thankful for. I loved reading this. I'm thankful that the cancer scare I had back the end of Aug. wasn't cancer. Another of God's miracles. Still praying for your sweet baby girl. Hugs and love

  4. I am so thankful for our Provider and Savior. I am thankful that my parents are still married after some very difficult times. I am thankful for a good job for my hubby after 10+ months of unemployment. I am thankful for a wonderful, supportive husband who allows me to stay home with my sweet children. I am thankful for the ability to worship freely and openly in our country. Thank you God for each of your countless blessings!!

  5. I'm thankful for my awesome friends and family! And most of all for a God that is so faithful and will never change! He's been teaching me so much through this season in my life, and I want to praise Him for that!

    P.S. I am also thankful for your blog and your family! What an encouragement you all are to me! Have a very happy Thanksgiving!

  6. Linny, we dont celebrate Thanksgiving in England..or here in France.
    But I know that every day I give thanks for healing of my loved ones, a son who had a similar accident to Karl's,(and is now a husband and father himself), a husband who had a stroke and has rehabilitated amazingly.
    God is so good.

  7. Today I am SO THANKFUL to have witnessed the LIVING, BREATHING MIRACLE that is Karl Hujus! Like you, Linny, I will be hugging him more than he ever thought possible, every time I see him 🙂 Praise God!
    Blessings on you and your sweet family today~ Love from the Muirheads

  8. I am thankful for how GOd has worked it out so Joel can be with his mom right now. For the first time in over 30 yrs he was not preaching over Thanksgiving. He could go be with his mom who has an anerysm by her heart….first time in 17 yrs they have been together for a holiday. Last night she ended up in ER with a perforated ulcer along with the large anerysm…bottom line, she is dying…and sad as it is to think about, I have been rejoicing ~not in her dying but in the way God worked it out for JOel to be there for his mom…for the great day they had yesterday before the visit to ER..for the talk they had about her being "ready" for heaven…for the blessing Joel is for his mom right now and for the blessing it is for JOel to be there for his mom at this time. I am giving thanks for his cousin being there to support him, and for God giving him the strength to walk through this journey. It always humbles me to see God in the details of our lives.

    I am thankful for my cyber friends, God's deep and abiding love, the way a dear sweet person named Linny came into my life and shared prophetic words with me, the love of family and friends, and being able to glory in the miracles that have about this year in the lives of so many. I could go on, but better leave room for someone else..
    Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

  9. So happy for all you have to be thankful for! So happy!

    We are thankful that our darling daughter is home with us this year, not another year in an orphanage! We are thankful that my mom is up to preparing (as I write this) our thanksgiving feast just two short years after that terribly sad and sorrowful one as we watched my dad die. He only lived days after Thanksgiving in 2009. Thankful that we have brought home two precious children from China since that sad time.

    Thankful that we can still worship our Risen Lord freely in this country.

    Thankful for the adoption community, you and DW included, who lifted us in prayer and support throughout our last three adoptions.

    Love you,
    janet, kevin, ted, sophia, philip, and elijah

  10. We are thankful to be adopting! Home study will be here Tuesday and we will send our 800A that day! We are so thankful we are that much closer to our girl!

  11. Loved seeing the pictures of Karl and Autumn together 🙂 and so glad to hear that all three are doing well and healing, praise the Lord!! 🙂

    I am thankful for my mother, for the pets He has given me, for non-persecution in our country where we can be free in proclaiming our faith in Him, for the clouds, rain. For colours. For language that we can communicate. For His Son so that we may have hope.

    happy thanksgiving from Australia 🙂

  12. I am so grateful for my first grandchild born in March. But I am so, so grateful God allowed me the opportunity to BE a grandmother. My precious, beloved mom died of cancer at age 48 – never seeing any of her 11 grandchildren. I have always prayed God would allow me to live to see my grandchildren. I truly cherish every minute with him.

  13. I am thankful that our adult children (includes dau in love) are strong believers in God, raising wonderful children. Praising God for the jobs we have and money to pay bills and put food on our table, gas in our cars, a house we call home, a church we truly enjoy worshipping at and teaching children and the leadership there.
    Thanking God also for my blogland friends! So glad that life is looking up for Jubilee, Karl and Ruby. Still praying for all of you! Hugs!

  14. Rejoicing with you Linny for the miracles in your family and for our own miracle that others may have seen as a mistake with a referral from China. We know it was our Almighty God making sure two little boys remained together and became brothers for life through adoption! Also thankful for how he touched so many hearts in our area and we were able to raise an amount that exceeded our every expectation to donate to not one but four orphanages for different needs they each faced. Praising the Lord tonight for every way He has touched our lives this year both big and small! Happy Thanksgiving Linny to you and your family!

  15. Sobbing with joy over your miracles!! And to see Karl standing there holding Autumn and grinning gives me chills.I can't imagine how y'all must feel.He and your family are and will always be in our prayers and give me encouragement.

  16. I've been on short term disability since June, when I developed a back injury for an unknown reason. I since have lost my job because of it and my husband is currently on Active Duty in Fort Knox, KY upon his return from Afghasitan in Feb. He only gets to come home one weekend a month, in the meantime my mom has moved into care for me, my house and our dogs, since I'm unable to do it. Anyway, I'm so thankful that my hubby is home this weekend. We were able to spend Thanksgiving together. We were only married 9 months before he left for his deployment and so all our "first" holiday's he was gone for and he missed my 30th birthday. It all doesn't matter to me anymore to know he's back safely. Even if he's not home every day, he's safely on US soil, praise the Lord. I will be thankful for the time I do get with him, it's better than nothing….though I will admit with all my health issues, while its a blessing to have my mom here, I'm ready for my husband to be home.

    Oh and I don't think I mentioned, this is all going on and I'm only 30 years old.

    AMAZING to see Karl standing up in pictures. Now that is for certain a miracle. Thanks for sharing those special pictures with us, please thank Autumn as well. For those of us praying for him, it's thrilling to see his face with a smile and them looking so good. On a sidebar, my husband has a mild TBI from an IED during one of his deployments. So I understand the work it takes, especially being married to someone, or living with someone with one. If Autumn ever wants to email me, please tell her I'd be more than willing to share our experiences. My email is kylea_duke at hotmail dot com.

    Thanks again for the updates. Praising God for your miracles today!!!!! Blessings!

  17. Happy Thanksgiving, Linny! This Thanksgiving we are thanking God for an incredible miracle… He not only opened the door to us adopting, but then showed us that He's had dear friends holding on to a large sum of money for us, for our adoption. The gasp-giving-amazing-God part is that the money these dear friends were hanging onto for us before we even knew we would be adopting now, is the exact amount of money we need for this adoption. So, not only has God provided for our expenses, but He's also shown us that His fingerprints are all over this! God is so good!

  18. this year I am thankful for a healed marriage, an adoption finalized, and a surprise pregnancy. Only God is to be praised for the miracles that have occurred in our family these past 12 months. A.MA.ZING!!!

  19. I am thankful that my oldest son Justin, daughter~in~love Kirsten and grandbaby Hayden were able to spend 5 nights with us here in Tennessee. They flew back to California this morning.

    I am thankful for our grandson Carter who is due APril 2012. Hayden will be a big sister!

    So thankful daughter Ashley and her boyfriend Matt flew in this afternoon and will be here in Tennessee with us until Sunday. Then it is back to California for them.

    So thankful my youngest son Brock is alive and healthy. I have a couple of friends who have lost sons. I know God is going to restore our relationship.

    Justin shared with me that he had exchanged a few texts with Brock last month! Even though Brock stopped responding to his brother's texts, it is still an answer to prayer!

    Thank you Jesus for all your blessings.

  20. I am thankful for my family, my children who complete me, my husbands who stands by me and loves me even when I'm not sure why! I am thankful for my baby boy who has Down syndrome, thankful for everything he has brought into our lives, thankful he opened my eyes to a whole world of orphans that in small ways, we can help, thankful I found your blog many months ago, to bring me comfort and laughter and tears and joy! But I still think you shouldn't be allowed to post without a Miss Ruby photo!! Happy thanksgiving to your family!
    Christina

  21. So thankful for my three kids God totally blessed me with. So thankful for adoption and that God knew I would be a single mom one day and stilled blessed me with these treasures. Thankful for the body of Christ and His Holy Spirit power. Thankful he has me part of the knee team and to watch the miracles and be a part of these in your life and the others who come here. Thankful to run this race with your family and see your great trust and faithfulness. So much to be thankful for. Love L Florida

  22. Linny, every time I read your blog I find we are more and more alike. Like you, I am also a HUGE fan of thanksgiving with christmas coming in at a close second! 🙂 everything it represents is humbleness, self-controlling, loving, caring, etc. just as Jesus asked us to be. So thankful for the many blessings in your life this year.
    Stay thankful,
    Ainsley

  23. Hi Linny,
    Just had to tell you about my turkey-induced dream last night! I dreamt of you and your family and was so excited to meet you all in person. After visiting Ruby with you all in the hospital, I headed to your house to decorate your house for Christmas, as a ministry to you, since you were spending so much time in the hospital. I woke up sorely disappointed that it wasn't real and that I hadn't actually met you.

    Blessings!
    Kim in the Philippines

  24. I love reading your blog and I loved seeing the picture of Karl. There is no doubt that God is still in the miracle business! This year I am thankful to God for a renewal in my walk with Him that I have grown stronger and closer in my relationship with Him, I am thankful for my wondeful family and children, I am so thankful that we will bring our new daughter home for Christmas, and I am thankful that this adoption time around I am completely dependent on God to make it happen. I have done all that I can and now I am waiting for Him to make the miracle happen. I know He will come through for us and He will provide all that we need to bring Jaidyn Grace home. I am thankful for the bloggy world where I can see God in action in the lives of adoptive families like you! I get so much encouragement and can keep going because I know that I am not alone on this adoptionn journey. I know that when we are finally all in heaven together we will meet and we will have the most wonderful celebration ever! Hope this makes sense!!
    Melanie
    journeytojordynandjailynn.b;ogspot.com

  25. So wonderful to see those pictures of Karl, a man that we have prayed for. I'm looking forward to hearing how God uses his amazing testimony.

    I'm thankful for family more than anything. Life is precious and each day is a gift from Him. We don't know what tomorrow holds, but we know who holds our futures.

    I'm thankful for you, Linny. Your passion has taught me much. May you continue to rest in Him. Hugs and Happy Thanksgiving!

  26. I am thankful for my daughter, Chuey, my 3 grandchildren. I am grateful that the Lord saved me from a heart attack or stroke in June(B.P. 223/188) I am thankful to see miracles of Karl, Jubilee, and Ruby Grace, I am thankful that my friend Terry accepted The Lord before he went to heaven, I am thankful for Jesus! Janet

  27. Oh, Linny! How much I have missed your blog. Satan has thrown so many obstacles in our path this year…..

    But, God is great and greatly to be praised!

    This Thanksgiving, God tore down the walls Satan was building and he provided every penny we needed to complete out adoption fund. I know how busy you are, but please hop over to the blog and read about it.

    It will make you shout praises. I just know it!!!!!

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