HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! I know...I'm a few days late but just work with me! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and got to spend quality time with those you love! I hade a great holiday!! Lots of fun...lots of food!!! Great time! Things were also busy though which is why I'm just now getting to this blog that I had planned to type up LAST THURSDAY! (I'm on a roll.)
I kind of wanted to challenge myself...and maybe some of you (if you're willing to join in). It seems that every Thanksgiving, we're always making lists of what we're thankful for and we always put those things like family, our home, our jobs...and yes, ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE VERY IMPORTANT AND I'M VERY THANKFUL FOR THEM ALL! But what about all of the little stuff...the stuff we seem to take for granted? So here's my challenge to you (and myself). Make a list of 10 things you're thankful for...but not the typical things. The little things. Maybe you'll understand after you read my list. If you're willing to share, go ahead and post them. If not, just write them down for yourself. Either way, I challenge you to do it. I think you may be surprised by the things you write down when you really take the time to think about it!
10 Things I'm Thankful for this Thanksgiving (in no particular order)
1. I recently spent an evening with my friend Staci and two of my favorite girls in the whole world - Emily and Melissa. Yes, Staci and I are adults (or so we're told) and Emily and Melissa are teenagers but we had the best time laughing (giggling really), sharing stories and just having a great time! I wish I had more time to spend evenings like that with those girls...cause I know it won't always be fun for them to hang out with the "adults" so I definitely don't want to take that granted!
2. I got an entire day with Kale and Keagen a few weeks ago! It's not often that I get an entire day with them, let alone a day where I had nothing to do! But this was one of those days! They stayed in their jammies late, Keagen played in the leaves, we spent some time with MiMi, TOOK A NAP (always needed) and just hung out. Nothing really to do. Just fun!
3. Back at the end of Sept., I spent two days with a few of my closest friends! We had a blast!!! Shanda will agree with me when I say that at the time, we had a blast and were grateful for the time we had! But now after the death of Toni's son, we look back on it differently. Clearly there was a reason God allowed us to have that time together. Although we hope to have more weekends like that together, life will never actually be the same. I'm so thankful for the laughs and smiles that weekend. Smiles we'll never forget!
4. OSU game back in Sept. As a birthday gift from some friends, I received two tickets to an OSU game. I was torn about going because I was going to miss Kale's dedication. But I still wanted to go. So I asked my friend Sarah F. to join me for the game - which then I found out she had never been to one! The game was AWESOME! But it was the game. It was getting to spend the time with Sarah. We spent some time together in Aug. And I think that had been the first time in at least a year if not more since we had seen each other! But for the OSU game, we got to spend some more time together. And as she prepares to leave this week and be gone for the holidays, I'm so grateful that I got to spend that time with her.
5. My mom and I went to the movies the night before Thanksgiving. Just some time to get out of the house before all of the busyness of the weekend. We laughed SO HARD for so long!!! Just about everything!
6. I was lying in bed the other night thinking about how this year has really changed me as an adult (even tho I still have my moments where adulthood is so far off) but also thinking about the people God has blessed me with. New friendships. Freindships that have grown. It's amazing why and when God brings people into your life. I won't name names because I know if they read this, they'll be embarrassed! But hopefully they know who they are!!
7. Now this may sound silly to some of you but oh well! My 10 Year Class Reunion. I know, SILLY! But it's not the reunion itself I'm thankful for...although it's the reason I have these things I am thankful for! I dreaded going to this reunion for so many reasons. But I am so glad I went. There were people I hadn't seen...or really talked to in the 10 years since high school and it was so great to see a few of those people and to pick up where we left off! And there are others who I just didn't spend enough time with and I was so glad we got to be together, have a great time and enjoy each other. Had it not been for the reunion, there's a good chance at least some of us would have never been together again.
8. God. I know...well, duh, huh? But as I stated briefly before, I believe that I've changed a lot in the last year. And I don't necessarily mean all the things that people notice right off. But that's a whole different blog! But I'm thankful for God pushing me...which He's done A LOT this year. Recently, He laid it upon my heart to take over the women's ministry at church and believe me, I FOUGHT THAT ONE! I'm not what I see as a leader...at least not a ministry of a church for crying out loud! And although the last few months has been a little scary as I've taken over, it's been a great LEARNING experience. I'm sure I've got plenty more to learn. I'm just thankful that He continued to push me and I decided to listen!
9. Support. This is kind of hard to sum up and put into words but I am going to try. I've always been thankful for those around me...my friends, family...but man, these people support me so much!!! There are so many people in my life that just step right in even before I realize I need it! It amazes me sometimes how many people love me and support me...no matter what I try!!! And I know that not everyone is as lucky as I am. If I sat here and wrote a list of all of those people, it would take forever because there are honestly so many! And believe me, it has nothing to do with me!!! Most of the time, I'm pretty sure I don't deserve the love and support that they so freely give!!!
10. My ability to write. OK. I'm not saying I'm some great writer or anything but I love to write! And when life throws things at me, that's when I write the most! And over the last few months, I've had plenty to write about. Sometimes it's a blog. Sometimes it's a journal entry. Sometimes it's things that will never be seen by anyone but me. But I truly believe God has given me a gift because I know there are times that I would have broken down or gone crazy had I not been able to write. And I don't mean like being illiterate (although clearly, I need to be able to actually write some letters in order to "write). I mean the ability to just sit down and write what I'm thinking and what I'm feeling. Not everyone can do that. And honestly, I write much better than I speak! I'm a talker for sure! But sometimes when life is difficult or I'm feeling quite a bit of different things, it's just much easier for me to write it down. I can't imagine having all of that stuck in my head with nowhere to go!!
You may think these things are silly things to be thankful for but I'm thankful for them none the less! And I hope you take the challenge to think of 10 things your'e thankful for...things you may sometimes take for granted! It may take some thought but I imagine you'll be able to come up with more than just 10! I'd love for you to share but if not, that's ok too! I understand!
I kind of wanted to challenge myself...and maybe some of you (if you're willing to join in). It seems that every Thanksgiving, we're always making lists of what we're thankful for and we always put those things like family, our home, our jobs...and yes, ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE VERY IMPORTANT AND I'M VERY THANKFUL FOR THEM ALL! But what about all of the little stuff...the stuff we seem to take for granted? So here's my challenge to you (and myself). Make a list of 10 things you're thankful for...but not the typical things. The little things. Maybe you'll understand after you read my list. If you're willing to share, go ahead and post them. If not, just write them down for yourself. Either way, I challenge you to do it. I think you may be surprised by the things you write down when you really take the time to think about it!
10 Things I'm Thankful for this Thanksgiving (in no particular order)
1. I recently spent an evening with my friend Staci and two of my favorite girls in the whole world - Emily and Melissa. Yes, Staci and I are adults (or so we're told) and Emily and Melissa are teenagers but we had the best time laughing (giggling really), sharing stories and just having a great time! I wish I had more time to spend evenings like that with those girls...cause I know it won't always be fun for them to hang out with the "adults" so I definitely don't want to take that granted!
2. I got an entire day with Kale and Keagen a few weeks ago! It's not often that I get an entire day with them, let alone a day where I had nothing to do! But this was one of those days! They stayed in their jammies late, Keagen played in the leaves, we spent some time with MiMi, TOOK A NAP (always needed) and just hung out. Nothing really to do. Just fun!
3. Back at the end of Sept., I spent two days with a few of my closest friends! We had a blast!!! Shanda will agree with me when I say that at the time, we had a blast and were grateful for the time we had! But now after the death of Toni's son, we look back on it differently. Clearly there was a reason God allowed us to have that time together. Although we hope to have more weekends like that together, life will never actually be the same. I'm so thankful for the laughs and smiles that weekend. Smiles we'll never forget!
4. OSU game back in Sept. As a birthday gift from some friends, I received two tickets to an OSU game. I was torn about going because I was going to miss Kale's dedication. But I still wanted to go. So I asked my friend Sarah F. to join me for the game - which then I found out she had never been to one! The game was AWESOME! But it was the game. It was getting to spend the time with Sarah. We spent some time together in Aug. And I think that had been the first time in at least a year if not more since we had seen each other! But for the OSU game, we got to spend some more time together. And as she prepares to leave this week and be gone for the holidays, I'm so grateful that I got to spend that time with her.
5. My mom and I went to the movies the night before Thanksgiving. Just some time to get out of the house before all of the busyness of the weekend. We laughed SO HARD for so long!!! Just about everything!
6. I was lying in bed the other night thinking about how this year has really changed me as an adult (even tho I still have my moments where adulthood is so far off) but also thinking about the people God has blessed me with. New friendships. Freindships that have grown. It's amazing why and when God brings people into your life. I won't name names because I know if they read this, they'll be embarrassed! But hopefully they know who they are!!
7. Now this may sound silly to some of you but oh well! My 10 Year Class Reunion. I know, SILLY! But it's not the reunion itself I'm thankful for...although it's the reason I have these things I am thankful for! I dreaded going to this reunion for so many reasons. But I am so glad I went. There were people I hadn't seen...or really talked to in the 10 years since high school and it was so great to see a few of those people and to pick up where we left off! And there are others who I just didn't spend enough time with and I was so glad we got to be together, have a great time and enjoy each other. Had it not been for the reunion, there's a good chance at least some of us would have never been together again.
8. God. I know...well, duh, huh? But as I stated briefly before, I believe that I've changed a lot in the last year. And I don't necessarily mean all the things that people notice right off. But that's a whole different blog! But I'm thankful for God pushing me...which He's done A LOT this year. Recently, He laid it upon my heart to take over the women's ministry at church and believe me, I FOUGHT THAT ONE! I'm not what I see as a leader...at least not a ministry of a church for crying out loud! And although the last few months has been a little scary as I've taken over, it's been a great LEARNING experience. I'm sure I've got plenty more to learn. I'm just thankful that He continued to push me and I decided to listen!
9. Support. This is kind of hard to sum up and put into words but I am going to try. I've always been thankful for those around me...my friends, family...but man, these people support me so much!!! There are so many people in my life that just step right in even before I realize I need it! It amazes me sometimes how many people love me and support me...no matter what I try!!! And I know that not everyone is as lucky as I am. If I sat here and wrote a list of all of those people, it would take forever because there are honestly so many! And believe me, it has nothing to do with me!!! Most of the time, I'm pretty sure I don't deserve the love and support that they so freely give!!!
10. My ability to write. OK. I'm not saying I'm some great writer or anything but I love to write! And when life throws things at me, that's when I write the most! And over the last few months, I've had plenty to write about. Sometimes it's a blog. Sometimes it's a journal entry. Sometimes it's things that will never be seen by anyone but me. But I truly believe God has given me a gift because I know there are times that I would have broken down or gone crazy had I not been able to write. And I don't mean like being illiterate (although clearly, I need to be able to actually write some letters in order to "write). I mean the ability to just sit down and write what I'm thinking and what I'm feeling. Not everyone can do that. And honestly, I write much better than I speak! I'm a talker for sure! But sometimes when life is difficult or I'm feeling quite a bit of different things, it's just much easier for me to write it down. I can't imagine having all of that stuck in my head with nowhere to go!!
You may think these things are silly things to be thankful for but I'm thankful for them none the less! And I hope you take the challenge to think of 10 things your'e thankful for...things you may sometimes take for granted! It may take some thought but I imagine you'll be able to come up with more than just 10! I'd love for you to share but if not, that's ok too! I understand!
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