A list of thankfuls....

This weekend I had 5 hours of driving by myself.... and without hubby to chat with... I had a lot of time to think.

For some reason, over the last couple of months, there have been numerous experiences that have made me grateful. They have opened my eyes to help me see why I have every reason to be thankful!

He enjoys much who is thankful for little.

-Thomas Secker

So I am going to try and jot down my list of 'thankfuls' when they come to mind...

1) I am thankful to be married to my best friend, one who i can laugh with, cry with, one who understands me best, and who cares about me no matter what life brings!

2) I am thankful for a roof over our heads and four walls to keep us warm.

3) I am thankful to be living in this country. Even though we get brutal winters, we don't have to put up with frequent hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, monsoons, typhoons, etc. etc. I know there have been times I wished we lived somewhere like Florida, where it was summer all year round. But really, how grateful would I be? We get four seasons every year.... and all of them can be quite beautiful whether we would like to admit it or not!

4) I am thankful to be living in a country of freedom. Freedom of speech, freedom to serve, freedom to love, freedom to give.

5) I am thankful for my health. Even though I know I am not the healthiest person in the world and I have so much work to do in this area... I know I can be so thankful that I have my health. I have two eyes to see, two ears to hear, two legs to walk with and two hands to put to use.

You don't realize how much you depend on your health until its gone. I know this might sound lame, but I have been fighting a cold over the past week and Sunday I pretty much completely lost my voice. I was visiting with family and friends, and couldn't have a nice visit at times because I was losing my voice. Its pretty hard to have a one way conversation, or know what a person is thinking if you can commune with them :) I do have to admit, losing your voice is pretty minor.... but can you imagine losing your health? I have an uncle right now who is in hospital who is almost blind. He can still read with the help of special binos/glasses and magnifying tools. And uncle has also been recently diagnosed with Leukemia. We do certainly hope for the best for him as he is currently undergoing extreme chemo treatment in hopes to put the Leukemia into remission. But you never know what life has in store.... 

6) I am thankful for parents who raised us with values that have helped me not only as a child but now as an adult. Values that have helped me put life into perspective. Values that have helped me continue to work on who I want to be, someone of respect, someone that could be looked up to, someone that could be trusted.

7) I am thankful for the opportunity we have been given to start a life we want to have. A life we have more control over naturally, and not letting someone else control it. Controlling where we want to be in life, controlling when we want to work, controlling when we take holidays, controlling where we live, controlling who we are and who we want to be.