Count Your Blessings

It is almost Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving has always been interesting to me because its focus has become much more on food than anything else. From my understanding, it is supposed to be a time of reflection of what God has provided, how He has carried us through another year, and how blessed we are. Sometimes it is easy to discount the many, many blessings that we have. Sometimes it is easy to focus on the few things in our life that are not going as we would want and to forget the thousands of things that are going great. We get so used to many things that we even forget that they are blessings. (If you talk to a grandparent, you will learn that even things like plumbing are blessings!)


I could not begin to list the many blessings that have been bestowed upon my family and I. But here are the top ten:

1.Obviously our biggest blessing is the gift of salvation that we have. We are so thankful that Jesus paid the price so that we could be with God in heaven!


2.The next thing on my list would be these two guys:

3. I am thankful for Gary's success with his job. He officially passed his board exam and now is a board certified Internal Medicine Physician. He loves where he works, and he loves his patients. Some people are born to be something, and Gary was definitely born to be a doctor.

4. I am thankful for the many, many friends we have. We are so blessed with friends from childhood and friends from our pathways to where we are today. We have been blessed with even more friends here. We would not be the people we are today if it were not for our friends. We appreciate each and every one of them, whether they were a "season" or a lifetime friend.

5. I am thankful for our families. Both Gary and I were fortunate to come from families who laid a firm Christian foundation. Not only our parents, but our grandparents and on came from faithful backgrounds. It is our legacy, and it is something that are passing on to our son. We are so blessed to have been raised in these homes.

6. I am thankful for my health and the health of my family. I am almost never sick. I could not tell you the last time I was truly sick. It has been years. Zach has almost never been sick in his life, and this is surprising since he spent a great deal of his younger years in childcare while I worked. Gary, despite being around sick people all of the time, is also very healthy. We are so very blessed in our home with good health!

7. I am thankful for the ability to stay at home. It has not always been this way, and I am really enjoying it. I know that I am very fortunate, and I can really appreciate it since I was a working mom for four years!

8. I am thankful for always having my basic needs met. While I may have "wanted" many things that I never had, I have never spent a day in my life in need. I have never known what is was to go hungry because there was no food. I have never known what is was to be unsure of where I would lay my head for the night. I am so blessed that I have always had everything I needed.

9. I am thankful that the Lord has blessed me with many talents that I can use to His glory. While I am still trying to discover where He wants me, I am filling in where I am needed and I am glad that He made me able to do so.

10. I am thankful that we will be able to spend four days this week amongst family. It is so fun to be with our family members, creating memories to last for a lifetime.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving this week. Most of all, amongst all of that yummy food and traveling and hugging, take some time to really reflect on what blessings you have. You will find that it puts everything into perspective!