Giving Thanks

My heart fills with thankfulness.  I am easy to please.  Easy to amuse as well.  I like to be thankful.  It is so freeing. The list is much like everyone else's.  Food.  Friends.  Family.  Faith.  Financial blessings.  The five f's if you will.....the ones that everyone enumerates every year.  But I am thankful for the parking spot that comes available up close just when I need it because I am so worn out that I can barely take another step.  I am thankful for the smile from a friend that makes life ok in the midst of pain and sadness.  I am thankful for a sense of belonging in this great big and often lonely world.  I am thankful that the sun came up.  That I woke up.  That I can walk.  That I have smiles to give.  I am thankful for the pains of raising children ans seeing God's glory as He molds them and shapes them.  I am thankful for learning how to get out of His way.  I am thankful for people that I'll never be best friends with but who change my life and make me feel hopeful.  I am thankful for babies and the special gift that is to the young parents coming behind.  I am thankful for a legacy to pass on.  I am thankful for truth.  For being able to face it with courage AND for the strength to not fall.  I am thankful for where I am in life.  This exact place.  Though it is less than comfortable.  I am thankful that I am learning.  Leaning.  Growing.  Hoping.  Believing.  Blessing.  I am thankful for the people in my life that have loved me through being quite the butthead at times.  I am thankful for my angel dog that has come into my life.....some think he's a demon, but for me he is like a breath of fresh air.  I am thankful for the bright blue kind of sky that is typical of my home state.  I am thankful for snow.  For flowers.  For flamingoes that make me smile every time I see them.  I am thankful for ice packs.  And for pain relievers.  I am thankful for memories.  They create a foundation that I stand firm on.  I am thankful for writing.  For the invention of this laptop that brings me so much pleasure.I am thankful to be included in art in life...though I am not artistic.  I am thankful for creativity in all of its forms.  I am thankful for paint.  It brings such newness and freshness.  I am thankful for great pieces of wood that I can play with and make fun things.  I am thankful for kids who play music and sing.  I am thankful for music.  I am thankful for the peace that grips my soul.  I am thankful that I have a friend in the world who opened my eyes to what it was to be steadfast.  I am thankful for family in all of its forms.  For the hard times.  And the easy times.  I am thankful for a good night's sleep....because it is not my normal experience.  I am thankful for any moment that is pain free.  I am thankful for my jiggly belly. I don't know why, but it's just kinda fun to be my age and in my place and not the perfectly toned one.  I might change my mind and do something about it, but for now, I'm comfy.  I am thankful for learning to be comfortable in my own skin.  I am thankful that a year ago I decided to change my life.  And going back and looking at the beginning  of this blog reminds me how difficult it was.  And how good.  I am thankful for this very day and all it will hold.  And for all of the ones I hold in my heart.  My soul overflows with how much goodness there is in the midst of every event and circumstance....if I only bother to look and change my perspective.
I am thankful for YOU.  Because you found this place to read.  To join me on this journey.  To walk along side me, though we don't even know one another.  I am thankful that maybe you know that you are not alone.  You are cared for, prayed for and incredibly precious no matter what your story.  You make a difference in my life.
Grace to you.