The thankfulness in my heart today is this.

Photo by Marta Pawlik via Unsplash (2015). Text added by Erin Franco.

Oh, St. Josemaria. How well you have put into words what is in my heart this Thanksgiving.

If you have followed my family’s story, you know a little of what Michael and I have been through over the past few years. You may know that this Thanksgiving is the first one in a home of our own after two years of living with my parents. You may know that our seven years of marriage has had ups and downs that have brought us to our knees time and time again.

My Thanksgiving message today for all of you is this one: God is real. He has great plans for you. And He invites you to trust Him, even if you must wait years on His timing. If you give him your troubles and give Him your heart, God has a happy ending that blesses you and blesses others. He can unravel any knot, heal any wound, and redeem any sinner. Even me. Even you. It is a type of pride–and a lie from You-Know-Who–that we are too far gone to turn back to God now, or that happy endings and miracles aren’t for the likes of us. We don’t have to be perfect to get a happy ending, but we have to throw ourselves–every single day–into His perfect divine mercy.

I challenge each of you to spend some time today thinking about specific fruits that God has brought out of difficult seasons and situations you have been through in your life. What people have you come in contact with because of a particular struggle? What lessons have you learned that have blessed others directly or indirectly since then? Are you more spiritually mature today than you were five years ago? Are you a better father, mother, friend, or sibling than you were before a particular struggle? 

My hope in Christ during all of the hard times has not been disappointed. This Thanksgiving, the Lord has mercifully shown me some of the fruit He has brought out of the small sufferings of my life so far, and my soul really does break out in thanksgiving. My life is a story of the mercies of God, and I pray that He would give me the grace to continue to live by faith, whatever may come.