Happy Ebenezer Thanksgiving

I love Christie's Thanksgiving post. You've just got to read it: Dedicated to God. She's broken and mended, heart-breakingly honest and victoriously joyful.

I also have a very  belated Thanksgiving post.

During our Ebenezer celebration day (see Raising Ebenezer), we took some pictures. It was all about remembering and commemorating how far God has brought us. I thought I'd post a few of these, so that you too, can see and celebrate. I can take no credit for any of this--it is all God. To some of you, these pictures will seem insignificant, though perhaps very cute. But these everyday scenes represent tremendous freedom for us. Thanks be to God!

Jem and I made a carrot cake together. All the carrots, grated and oozing bright juice:

A few months ago, I would have been horrified if someone even brought a carrot, or any other vegetable for that matter, into our house. And baking, with eggs? Forget it! But Jem and I actually baked our carrot cake without arguing about the spread of germs around the kitchen.

Then, we took our baby girl to the park. 

Now, if you can possibly imagine, there was a time when sitting down on anything in public would have been a huge inner struggle for me, never mind enjoying a public playground. The first time we finally brought lily to a park, I took along baby wipes and wiped out the baby swing several times, then wouldn't let Jem throw the wipes in a nearby garbage can for fear he'd somehow accidentally touch the garbage. 

(This picture is actually from last month, when the weather was warmer. Forgot our camera the most recent time, but we take her to parks often now. She loves the swings.)

Here is our little lily, enjoying a swing, quite public and quite un-wiped: 

pure enjoyment

We wanted to have a picnic lunch outside, but the neighbours were burning something or other and the smoke was a bit unpleasant. So, we picnicked on the living room floor. Notice please the lack of picnic blanket,

the food directly on the floor...

and even, the baby directly on the floor!

And yes, that's my baby, eating her cheerios off the carpet!

Once the smoke outside cleared, we took a woven grass mat my parents brought back from Africa, and sat out on the grass to enjoy one of the last warm-ish fall days. Little lily loves being outside. 

I don't know how clean the mat was. But I figured the germs would be dry and dead along with the grass. ;-)

...

While we were sitting outside, I did some drawing. I've been enjoying pencil sketching in the last few months. I don't have a lot of time for it with a baby to take care of! But when I do get the time I've found that drawing is like getting outside for a breath of fresh summer air. I breathe freedom and clear thoughts during the hours spent drawing. The obsessive thoughts leave me alone for a little while.

As part of my ERP (Exposure Response Prevention. I'll write more about that in future posts), I've tried drawing feared objects or situations. It takes quite a lot of self-control to sit and stare at something that seems really scary, in fairly close proximity to it, or even to handle it enough to set up an interesting composition. I've found that it does eventually help to lower my anxiety around that specific object or scenario. So, here I decided to draw my dad's gardening shoes and paraphernalia:

Once my parents came home, we got ready for a date, and left lily with two very pleased grandparents.

On the drive into town, the sun was setting and the sky was magnificent. The sunset wasn't just behind us to the east, but in front and all around us as well. The whole sky was blazing hot pink. This picture is really pitiful, but I had to try!

No way to do that sunset justice through photography

Jem took me to the best restaurant in Moose Jaw, and we had their special--crab legs dipped in hot butter. Wow.

See?!  I can eat with my fingers now! Sea food, no less! And I even used their public washroom to wash my buttery, fishy hands afterward.

Jem gave me a beautiful gift that evening. Here's a picture of it! One of the most beautiful things I have. It matches my engagement ring! He told me it is to remind me always that God is our Ebenezer.

Here I wear my Ebenezer!

Note my hand is quite smooth! Just as a point of comparison, here's a picture of my hands at one of my worst points, all swollen, red, raw and cracked from too much scrubbing (the picture really doesn't show how very bad they were):

So there you have it--our Ebenezer celebration. Some of you who have suffered through a mental illness, or any illness for that matter, may recognize the need to celebrate the small, and big, advances. I believe this is a very good thing to do, that as children of God, we ought to celebrate often and lavishly His work in our lives.

Thanksgiving is here, and what a perfect time to do just that.

Thanks be to God!