During this time of year we all try to give thanks for what we have. This year I have a lot of extra reasons to be thankful, so I decided to write something I was thankful for each day in my planner to blog about later. As I wrote each day I was reminded of an old hymn we sang at church when I was growing up. "Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings see what God has done." My blessings are many and God has done a lot for me. It is easy to forget how fortunate we are sometimes, until we see someone with so much less.
11-1 I am thankful to God for sending His son, Jesus, to die for me. Being a Christian and knowing for certain where I will spend eternity is such an incredible blessing. Forgiveness that I don't deserve is an unbelievable gift. Now that I am a parent I realize what a sacrifice God made by giving Jesus for me.
11-2 I am thankful for my wonderful husband, Brian. Brian always demonstrates his love for me. He is a wonderful man and a blessing to me. I am very fortunate that God put him in my life.
11-3 I am thankful for my healthy baby boy, Matthew. Matthew is the light of my life. Words can't express how much being his mommy means to me.11-4 I am thankful for Christian parents who raised me with morals and values. I have a wonderful set of parents. They always showed me how much I was loved. They taught me so much. I pray that I do as good of a job with my own child as they did with me.
11-5 I am thankful for a terrific sister. I am so glad to have a little sister. As the years have progressed we have grown closer. Now that we are both raising sons, we have bonded even more. She has been an excellent sounding board as we navigate this new adventure together.
11-6 I am thankful for my grandparents. I was blessed enough to get to know all 4 of my grandparents and have them all at my wedding. And now 3 of them get to spoil Matthew like they spoiled me. Grandparents are a wealth of wisdom.
11-7 I am thankful for my best friend, Leslie, who is always here for me when I need her. No matter how many miles separate us physically, she is always in my heart.
11-8 I am thankful for a good job. In these economic times, many people are without jobs. I am blessed not only to have a job, but to have a good job with a company who cares about its employees.
11-9 I am thankful for my home. Brian and I work really hard to have a home of our own. It is a blessing that we often take for granted. But as I see so many homeless people, I know that having a warm, safe place to rest is blessing.
11-10 I am thankful for all the memories of those that I love. I have countless memories stored in my head and heart to share with Matthew about the people who he will grow up knowing and those who have already left this world, but who would have loved to know him. (I am sad to add his Grandma Cathy to the list of ones who have already left this world. She passed away on Dec 19.)
11-11 I am thankful for my sweet nephew, Ayden. He turns one today, Veteran's Day. He is a delight. I don't get to see him much, but as far as he is concerned, his Aunt Charli is not a stranger. He is always eager to climb up in my lap.
11-12 I am thankful for soldiers who fight for my freedom. I thank God that He allowed me to be born in a free country. I know that my freedom comes at a heavy price to others. I am thankful for their service and sacrifice.
11-13 I am thankful for all the new lives in our family. Brian and I have many new babies to celebrate - Ayden, Katie and Ethan who are all a year old, Liza and Kylie who are a little younger than Matthew and Shelby and Bentley who haven't arrived yet. New babies are such a miracle and should be treasured. (Bentley arrived via C section on Dec 23.)
11-14 I am thankful for safe travels. We do a lot of traveling during the holidays. Now with a new life to be responsible for, I am more thankful than ever for just arriving safely to our destinations.
11-15 I am thankful for my extended family who I don't get to see often enough. I have so many happy memories involving my extended family and Brian's as well. I want Matthew to have memories of those special people also. I wish we saw them all more often.
11-16 I am thankful to wake up to Matthew's sweet smile and happy babbles. He wakes up happy nearly every morning. He greets me with a huge grin and starts chattering away. If I pretend that I am still asleep, he reaches out and rubs my cheeks to get my attention. It makes every day seem beautiful and it is a great way to start my day.
11-17 I am thankful for reliable transportation. Commuting an hour one way to work everyday makes me very thankful to have a car I can depend on.
11-18 I am thankful for good health. I have always kind of taken my health for granted. I mean I catch the occasional cold or stomach bug. But I have never had any serious ailments. Now with my mother-in-law battling cancer, I appreciate my good health and Brian's all the more. (Cathy lost her battle with cancer, but she is in pain no longer.)
11-19 I am thankful for the little baby I have up in heaven that made me a mommy, baby Logan. Motherhood has a whole new meaning for me now that I have a baby that I am actually raising, but I still think of my heavenly little one. I appreciate that little life, even though it was brief.
11-20 I am thankful for chaos and mess. With a mobile baby, my life is full of messes. But even though the mess drives Brian crazy (and therefore gets me some nagging), I am thankful to have stuff that a mess can be created from. Brian and I are very blessed to have things. I wish it would keep itself clean and organized, but life is too short to get all worked up about a little chaos. My little mess maker is too precious to get upset with.
11-21 I am thankful for a good home for Ivan. Ivan was my sweet green baby (a 5ft iguana). When Matthew was about to arrive, we had to find a good place for Ivan to live because I wasn't going to have time or space for him anymore. I still miss him, but he is with a wonderful family who loves him dearly. So I am thankful that Darry had it in her heart to take my sweet boy into her heart and home.
11-22 In this day and age where knowledge truly is power, I am thankful for my education. I have always enjoyed learning and I am glad to have had the opportunity to go to college and to graduate school. No one will ever be able to take my education away from me.
11-23 I am thankful that I get to watch Matthew as he learns. Each day he makes a new discovery. He truly is a little sponge just absorbing everything. I can see the light bulb go on when he figures something new out. It is so amazing watching him contemplate things.
11-24 I am thankful for the holiday season. Even though Christmas is a busy time of year it is a joyous time. I am thankful to have the opportunity to spend time with loved ones and make new memories.
11-25 I am thankful for a strong marriage. With divorce so prevalent in our world right now, I am so appreciative of a strong, happy marriage. Brian is my rock when I am upset, my sounding board when I am frustrated, and my joy every day.
11-26 I am thankful for good food. Eating all the wonderful home cooked goodies yesterday made me really miss all the meals I used to have. I am not much of a cook and I don't really have time to do a lot of cooking anyway, so I really appreciate the wonderful food at Thanksgiving.
11-27 I am thankful that we have enough. Sometimes I wish we had more and sometimes it feels like what we do have isn't going to stretch far enough. But we always seem to have enough to make it.
11-28 I am so thankful for a beautiful world. God's creation is glorious. I am amazed by nature. I don't know how anyone can look around them and not believe that a master creator fashioned all of this.
11-29 I am thankful for flexibility at work. I am home sick with a fever and no one at work gave me a hard time about needing to stay home and get well. That's one of the reasons I love the company I work for.
11-30 I am thankful for health insurance that lets me afford to go to the doctor when I feel bad. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have that luxury.
After 30 days of being thankful for my many blessings, I realized that I am blessed immeasurably. I can't count all of the things I am thankful for, and I am sure that no matter how tough things are for you right now if you stop and count, you won't be able to count all your blessings either.
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