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Happy Thanksgiving from Drs. Hansen, Pietig, and Young and the Staff of Ankeny Family Vision Center!
Webster defines thanksgiving as the act of giving thanks...the expression of gratitude!
This really is something we should be doing on a daily basis. But it is nice that as Americans we set aside one day a year to focus on God and His blessings!! Our celebration dates back almost four centuries and comes directly from the Pilgrims and their gratefulness for their bountiful harvest in spite of a harsh winter they were unprepared for.
The first national Thanksgiving occurred in 1789. Then, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln set aside the last Thursday of November declaring, "We are prone to forget the Source from which the blessings of fruitful years and healthful skies come...I do, therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States...to observe the last Thursday of November as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father Who dwelleth in the heavens."
This day is not always a joyous and thankful time for everyone. Sometimes life is so overwhelming that we cannot think of one thing for which to be thankful. Psalm 100 tells us, "...the Lord is good; His loving kindness is everlasting and His faithfulness (continues) to all generations."
God is good and He is good all the time!! What a promise to cling to regardless of our circumstatnces or what our thoughts are telling us! What a reason to be thankful!
If this season finds you felling down and lonely, know the Lord is near!! Are you struggling? Reach out to someone and encourage them with the thought that the Lord is good and always there! His faithfulness continues on and on to all generations!!
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Motherhood.., the sheer sound of it brings enduring memories. A mother’s touch, her voice, her cooking, and the smile of approval in her eyes. Science has recently proven that there is a transference of emotion and programming from birth and infancy between a mother and her child... a type of communication, if you will, that occurs when the infant looks into its mother’s eyes. So what is this programming? How does it work and what effect does it have on the life of the child? What happens if it never happened to the infant? What happens if the mother is blind? These questions and more can be answered through a term called “triadic exchanges” in which infants learn social skills.
The gaze into a mother’s eyes brings security and well being to the child. When she gazes at another person, it makes the infant look at what she is gazing at, and introduces the infant to others in the world. This is known as a triadic exchange. So now their world is no longer just one person, their mother, but a third party which teaches them the art and skill of organizing their social skills and interaction.
Interestingly, if a mother is blind, it does not adversely affect the child’s development. A study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B showed no deficit in their advancement. The sheer fact that the infant looks into the mother’s eyes helps with connectedness and emotional grounding.
