Thanksgiving

“Thanksgiving includes gratitude.   In fact, thanksgiving is but the expression of an inward conscious gratitude to God for mercies received.  Gratitude is an inward emotion of the soul, involuntarily arising therein, while thanksgiving is the voluntary expression of gratitude.”

E.M. Bounds

One of my favorite practices is to create a gratitude list. It pulls me out of myself when I’m feeling sorry for myself and renews my perspective. I thought it would be appropriate to offer one on Thanksgiving.

1. My faith. As much as I struggle, especially with worship, my faith in Jesus runs deep.
2. My husband. He is faithful, loving, patient, and awesome. He supports me and my creative endeavors, and is awesome tech support and website designer. I love you, baby.
3. My family. I grew up in a loving, supportive home. My mom’s always been one of my biggest cheerleaders. Thanks guys.
4. My family of choice. I have a set of friends that my husband and I have lunch with on a weekly basis. We call them our family of choice. They’re a fun bunch. I feel even more grateful for them this week as one of our members suffered a heart attack last week and is now doing fine.
5. My health. As much as I complain about my little ailments, I know I am blessed.
6. Creativity. I am thankful for a creative spirit and ways to release that creative energy.
7. My blogging community. I love the people I have met through blogging. I love the amazing blogs I run across. You guys are too cool.
8. Employment. I grumble about this A LOT. I am not in my dream job, but I am in a job. I have a paycheck, and even though it doesn’t always stretch very far, I know I am blessed to have any income coming in.
9. My home. As cluttered as it gets and as much as it does NOT look like the Better Homes and Garden model, it is cozy, comfortable, and mine. I have traveled enough to know that being in out of the cold, rain, and elements is a huge blessing. I also went long enough without a home of my own to know how awesome it is to have one.
10. My African Children’s Choir kiddos. I’ll be sharing more about them soon in my worship journey. I miss them like crazy and hate that they’re not in my life anymore, but I am so proud of the hard work they do in school and I know they are going to do great things. I pray to have the chance to return to Africa soon to visit them again. I’m way overdue on hugs.