A Day of Thankfulness: Day 19

Day 19: I am thankful for my teeth and for good dental care!

I can just hear some of you laughing! Maybe you are thinking that I have surely run out of things to be thankful for and am grasping at straws. No! I thank God often for my teeth! All my life I have had trouble with them. When I was a little girl we didn't have dental floss or cleaning and checkups every six months. My teeth are what dentists have called "crumbly" and decayed easily even though I called myself taking care of them. My first memory of a dentist's office was when I was about five years old and it's not pretty. ha I was never a child that screamed and kicked or resisted a doctor or dentist but inside I was a scared quivering mess.

To make a long story short, I've sat in a lot of dentist chairs in my life and had a lot of metal put in my mouth! About twelve years ago I had a tooth break off....which was not an uncommon thing for me...and went to my dentist to get it fixed. Something happened that had never happened to me before. He could not get my mouth to get numb. I came back in two weeks and the same thing happened...no numbness. So for a period of two or three years I was not able to get any dental work done where I had to be numbed up. Six years ago a friend recommended a new dentist to me and she has been able to numb my mouth and take care of my dental needs ever since. And I don't take it lightly. I really do thank the Lord for my teeth almost every time I brush them.

Maybe you've always had great teeth and can't relate to my story. Then you have even more reason to be thankful ! I know a lady who only has three or four teeth left and she has such a hard time eating. But she doesn't let the lack of teeth keep her from smiling. She's thankful for what she does have. I want to be that way. Whether I have an abundance or a little in the world's eyes, I want to have a thankful heart!

May God bless you!

Marilyn