“And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.” [Qur’an: Chapter 14, Verse 7]
I started this monthly gratitude series back in January. However I only managed 2 months before I got distracted by life and then restarted it in August. In sha Allah I will continue with it in 2019 as being grateful is so important. I am also going to start getting the girls to do it properly…I did start a gratitude box with them but we never stuck to it. However it is so important to teach our children to be grateful.
December has been a relatively quiet month….but if I reflect back the one thing I am ultimately grateful for this month is that dad had an endoscopy and it came back clear – there were no new varices which could burst and ultimately kill him. So following on from that, I am grateful that my dad has remained in relatively good health this year.
A few years ago, when he was diagnosed with Liver Cirrhosis caused by fatty liver, we didn’t expect him to see past a few years. At one point we thought he was close to death…he forgot who we were, he couldn’t make sense as to where the toilet was and even forgot how to walk; he would stand there shaking and not know how to move his legs. He started sleeping a lot and we thought he was going to slip into a coma as that is one of the stages and they often then don’t come back out of it. Even his consultant said a few months later that you were close to death and now look at you! But alhamdulillah she hasn’t had to see him for a year.
Lots of hospital stays and blood transfusions and fluid drains ultimately took its toll on us when he was first diagnosed. But alhamdulillah this year he has been as stable as he can be. Yes he can be grumpy due to his illness which can be hard for mum at times but alhamdulliah he is still with us, is still fighting and in sha Allah may we still have many more years with him.
Please keep my and my family in your duas through 2019. In sha Allah my father will continue to remain stable in 2019.
What are you grateful for this past month?
Abu Huraira reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said,
“He has not thanked Allah who has not thanked people.”
Source: Sunan Abī Dāwūd 4811
Monthly Gratitude – December 2018
December started off with holidays. I really am glad for the need to write this gratitude post, because it is a way for me to sit back and say ALHAMDULILLAH – even though I’ve nearly been driven insane by the trio.
ALHAMDULILLAH. Zooming out and seeing the big picture, there’s plenty for which I need to say Alhamdulillah and that too often.
School closed for vacation at the end of the first week of December and that led to my trio being home!!! The older two are bigger now and so have their own activities to keep them occupied and I don’t have to chaperon them along they can get around to all their classes alone on UBER. Alhamdulillah! So this December I enrolled them on a four month course on Robotics, and they are really keen in taking things apart and putting them back together, so Alhamdulillah they’ve been enjoying this and it has kept them busy in addition to that they’ve been having extra soccer practices and they’ve been busy as a result they were out of the house!
Its only in the last week heralding Christmas that they had a break from it all and SubhanaAllah it has been a trying, testing time!! But Alhamdulillah I still have plenty to be grateful for.
Grateful for healthy children,
Grateful for full tummies
Grateful for safety and refuge
Grateful for His mercy and protection
Grateful for guidance
Alhamdulillah! – All praise is to Him, who has favored me over much of His creation.
So I have a good network of friends (I call them my Mango Buddies) placed globally and every time one of them come down, it’s an excuse for us Lankans to meet up! So on the 23rd we met up for a kid free meal and chat. It was good,
The reminiscing of good times,
The remembering of old times and
The being grateful for what we have times.
Times have certainly changed and with it the trials facing mankind. Allah has protected us and we need to be more conscious of our efforts to please Him.
So this December – I am Grateful for the many reasons I have to say Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah, a lot to be grateful for!