3 Gifts Hard To Give Thanks For

This is a difficult one. Three gifts hard to give thanks for. I know the answers.

1. Unemployment, which leads to #2 and #3.

I have been unemployed since 2012--two years. My last full-time job was working as a staff photographer at a small photography studio in Northern Connecticut.

I have sold a print here and there, photographed a few weddings, and worked for a few interior designers the past few years selling prints to them or shooting interiors/exteriors for them, but these jobs have been few and far between; thus there has been little steady income.

Thankful I am, though, for the opportunity to photograph this young woman, Rebecca, at the studio:

And this woman, Claire:

It is hard to give thanks for the gift of this job; for unemployment. I was heartbroken when the studio let me go.

What is the lesson? To give thanks? Yes. My photography skills improved and I spent a few months with people of love; we gave thanks every morning!

Thankful I am. The loss of the job resulted in a wonderful photography assignment; photographing a country estate in Southern Connecticut--a job I could not have done if I had still been employed.

Thankful I am for these images, and many others from the day here at this estate owned by a loving family.

Thankful I am. Unemployment has allowed me the time to raise my puppy, Freddy. And time to garden. Here I am planning the garden last May:
 

Time to write poetry again. And time to spend with Susan And time to cook. I think this is a Cod and Fennel dish via Gail Monaghan. Recipe can be found here:

"For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under Heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1 New Living Translastion

Thankful I am.

2. Financial Stress. Unemployment results in financial stress. How do we pay our bills? How do we help our children? How do we tithe?

The stress has led me down a path.

Thankful I am for this path; a path to prosperity through prayer and meditation. The stress has made me make time for prayer and meditation. For reading books from Unity and reading the Bible.

And God spoke to me in a dream and said do this; Pathways to Prosperity.

Thankful I am.

3. Who Am I vs. What Am I?

This is the age-old question. Isn't it?

Thankful I am. 

I can't help but think of that song, "That's Life!" Yes, I've been many things. When I was a boy I delivered newspapers. And mowed lawns. After college I worked in an art gallery. I worked as a copywriter. I owned an art gallery. I worked as a photographer.

When I was a child all my friends though I was going to be a baseball player. That's me right up front in the middle:

Thankful I am that unemployment has led me to discover "What I Am."

I am a son of God.

In God I live, move, and have my being.

In me God Lives, moves, and has his expression.

Thankful I am. Identity with God enhances my individuality and character. Identity with God purifies and beautifies my personality. Identity with God refines my joy and increases it.

Thankful I am.