Skip to main content

A Thanksgiving of Real Gratitude

 

The Five Blessings Carrying Me Through This Season

Thanksgiving hits different when you’ve lived through storms that could’ve drowned you.
It hits different when life hasn’t been easy, when the world has tested you, when you’ve prayed harder than you’ve slept, and when the year hasn’t exactly wrapped itself in a pretty bow.

But even in the middle of chaos, heartbreak, and the kind of battles most people never see…
there are blessings.
Real ones.
Quiet ones.
The kind that show up when everything else looks impossible.

So this morning, I sat down and wrote out the top five things I’m thankful for.
Not the surface-level stuff.
Not the cliché answers people post online.

These are the things that keep me breathing, fighting, believing, and moving forward.

1. My Husband — My Warrior, My Why, My Heart

People see a prison number.
I see the man God gave me.
The man who has fought through trauma, demons, addiction, and pain that would crush most people.
The man who still chooses me, still loves me, still reaches for God, still holds hope even when he’s standing in darkness.

I am thankful for his strength, his honesty, his growth, and the way he loves me fiercely even from behind the wall.

Loving him has changed me, stretched me, broken me open, and rebuilt me in ways I never expected.
And I wouldn’t trade this journey — or him — for anything.

2. My Children — My Quiet Inspirations

They don’t even realize how deeply they anchor me.
How much they remind me that love continues, that hope is generational, that life never stops giving you reasons to stand back up.

My children are the living proof that God’s goodness runs right beside the pain.
I am thankful for them every single day.

3. Our Home — Our Little Sanctuary in a Storm

It may not be big.
It may not be fancy.
But it’s ours.
It’s warm.
It’s safe.
It holds laughter, memories, tears, and dreams.

In a world that feels unstable, unpredictable, and cold, I thank God for the roof over my head and the peace inside these walls.
This home has held me when my heart felt too heavy to carry on its own.

4. Our Relationship With God — The Only Reason I’m Still Standing

Without God?
I’d be lost.
I’d be bitter.
I’d be angry at the world and at every unfair thing it’s thrown at us.

But His grace…
His patience…
His presence…
His way of stepping into the cracks of my life and filling them with strength I don’t have on my own—

That is what keeps me going.

I am thankful for the prayers He heard even when I didn’t have the words.
For the battles He fought for us behind the scenes.
For the way He loves us back to life every time we’re knocked down.

5. The People Who Stayed — The Ones Who Didn’t Leave When Life Got Ugly

You learn who truly loves you when your world falls apart.
Some people disappeared.
Some judged.
Some gossiped.
Some walked away the moment things weren’t convenient.

But others?
They stayed.
They checked in.
They prayed for us.
They supported us.
They carried pieces of us when we were too exhausted to carry ourselves.

I am thankful for the few who stood close, who didn’t flinch at our truth, who didn’t turn away when life got messy.
Those hearts are treasures money can’t buy.

This Thanksgiving, My Gratitude Isn’t Perfect.

But It’s Honest.

Life is still hard.
My husband is still fighting battles on the inside.
I’m still fighting battles out here.
Some days are heavy.
Some nights feel long.
Some prayers feel unanswered.

But even in the middle of all of that…
I can still look at my life and say:

“Thank You, God.
You’ve never left us.”

Gratitude doesn’t erase the pain —
but it reminds me of all the reasons I keep going.

And today, on this holiday, I’m holding tight to every single blessing that’s gotten me this far.

Happy Thanksgiving, from my heart to yours.
May God meet you right where you are. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fighting for Ryan: The Battle for His Life Inside Arizona’s Broken System

  I never thought I’d be writing this. Not like this. Not as the wife of the man I used to guard, used to protect. Not as someone on the outside screaming for help that should’ve been automatic on the inside. But here we are. I used to serve this system. Now I’m exposing it. I used to wear the uniform. Sixteen hours a day, six days a week, I walked those same yards. I protected inmates, respected them, loved them—because I knew most of them had never known compassion a day in their life. I saw their pain, their potential, their humanity. And now? Now I’m fighting like hell for the one who stole my heart behind those very walls. My husband is being failed. Deliberately. Repeatedly. Brutally. For days now— too many days —my husband has been locked down in complete isolation under what they call “observation.” No family contact. No personal belongings. No consistent monitoring. No treatment plan. What he’s getting instead? A blanket and a pill. They’re trying to medicate h...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Truth About Prison Relationships

  by Ryan People love to say things like: “She’ll move on.” “It’s not real love.” “He’s just using her.” “She’s wasting her life.” Let me be clear: They don’t know a damn thing about prison relationships. They don’t know what it’s like to hold onto love through walls,   wire,  and years. They don’t know what it’s like to fall asleep wondering if she’s okay and wake up praying she hasn’t given up on you yet. They don’t know what it takes for a woman to stay committed to a man society already threw away. And they sure as hell don’t know what it’s like to love someone you can’t touch, can’t hold, can’t protect— but still fight for every single day. My relationship isn't built on physical closeness. It’s built on trust. On pain. On redemption. On showing up for each other through letters, through phone calls, through the worst days of our lives. And let me say this loud and clear: She didn’t wait on me. She stood up for me. When I couldn’t speak, she spoke. When I couldn’t be...
Post a Comment
Read more

Another FBOP Failure: Tammy's Story — When “Funding” Becomes a Death Sentence

  Here we go again. Another woman, another broken promise behind razor wire. Another excuse that starts with “funding” and ends with neglect. Tammy’s story is not new. It’s not unique. And that’s the biggest tragedy of all. Because her life—and her vision—matter. And so does every other person sitting in a Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) facility, hoping for even the most basic human care. Recently, Tammy reached out to share what’s been going on at her facility, and I think it speaks for itself: "Recently I wrote about how the BOP seems to be broke. They took away several items at food service due to funding—like the salad bar (which, by the way, was just plain lettuce mix and generic dressing), they’ve limited eggs (maybe understandable with the bird flu), and removed extra items like beans and rice. What I didn’t mention, but probably should have, is that my prison doesn’t even repurpose leftovers. They literally throw away pounds and pounds of food daily from our kitche...
Post a Comment
Read more