Thankful

I have been seeing several of my friends on Facebook posting their countdown to Thanksgiving with a word of thankfulness everyday. Well, as always, I am behind, two days already to be exact. So, I thought I would just put it all here. All 25 days in one sitting, then I am all done for the whole month and don't have to worry about trying to remember to do it everyday.

We as Christians have so much to be thankful for I don't think I will have trouble finding 25, so here goes.

I'm Thankful For/That... (In no particular order)
1. My Salvation. As a young adult I struggled some with doubting my salvation, but God has given me a peace beyond all understanding, and I am so thankful for that. No matter what happens nothing, or no one can pluck me out of his hand.

2. My wonderful husband. All too often I take him for granted, but I am thankful for him and appreciate him more and more each day.

3. My four wonderful children. God has given me the 4 most wonderful children. They aren't perfect by any means, but they do try to do right and they want what God wants for their lives. I love each and every one of them more than they could ever know.

4. Our health. We have a fairly large extended family (my family and in-laws) and we have no major sicknesses or diseases. No one is dealing with cancer, or serious health issues of any kind. Our parents both have high blood pressure and common stuff like that, but God has been so good to watch over ALL our family and give us exceptionally good health.

5. Our home. We live in a small 3 BR, 1 Bath house (I wish it were more than 1 bath) but we have a roof over our head that doesn't leak. The heat is running right now, so we are staying warm. We were nice and cool all summer while it was hot outside. We have a refrigerator and electricity to keep food cold and to cook the food with. We have water to be able to shower, and cook. Just little things we take for granted every day.

6. Our vehicles. We have 2 vehicles that God has given us. One, literally. Brian's parents gave us a van this past summer, which was such a blessing because we were down to 1 vehicle. It is nice to have something you can just jump in and go when you need to.

7. I have a Godly heritage. I'm so thankful for godly parents. It means so much to me to come from a Christian home and have parents who taught me how to seek God's will for my life, and taught me so much about faith.

8. Brian comes from a godly home as well. It's nice to know Brian and I come from the same background. We don't have to argue over religion or about going to church, it's just in our blood and something we've both been doing since birth. We both have the same outlook on life and have the same hopes and dreams for our kids.

9. My friends. I have so many friends old and new, far and close. (not too many close) But I know at any time I could call most of them up and say I've got a special prayer request I need you to pray with me about. Or I could call after not having talked for maybe years, and it will be like we have never parted. I love having "family" all over country.

10. I get to stay home with my kids. I have the privilege to raise my kids on my own. I don't have to go to work, and send them to day care, I get to stay right here with them every day. I love it!

11. Our church. I am thankful we have a place to go and worship freely on Sunday and Wednesday. We don't have to go underground and hide and keep quiet our love for the Lord.

12. Church families. We have been members of a few churches in our 15 yrs of marriage. This is where I get all my friends. We have had several church families and I still consider them family. Just because we aren't with them and worship with them every Sunday doesn't have to mean they are no longer my church family. So, I'm thankful for each and every family we have been able to serve along side in our yrs of ministry.

13. God's Word. I don't know where I would be without the all powerful, inspired Word of God. It grips my heart, and has made me who I am today, and continues to mold and make me each and every day.

14. God's Creation. We have been studying creation in our children's church, and I don't know about you, but I see it differently every time. Every time I read about the creation it is just more and more amazing to me; how God made everything we see today out of nothing. He clothes the world, and feeds even the smallest animal. His handiwork is just amazing. Brian and I have been talking about the vastness of God's creation and all the other galaxies and planets. It's mind boggling to say the least. (For me any way.)

15. Things. God gives us things we don't need, and don't necessarily deserve, but he still allows us to have material things. If I start listing "things", I could be here all day and I have an appointment at 8:00 so I'm not gonna go there.

16. My life. I know I have already mentioned health, but I am just thankful to be alive. Each and every morning I wake up thankful for another day. Thankful for another day to be able to be with my kids, send my husband off to work, and try, to the best of my ability, to serve the Lord however he needs me to that day.

17. My senses. Again, things we take for granted. I'm thankful I can see God's beauty I talked about previously and enjoy looking at my kids and watching them grow. I am so thankful for my hearing. I don't know what my life would be like without music. The music of every day life. The sounds of my kids playing, fighting, laughing, praying and saying "I Love You Mom". The sounds of the birds singing, rain falling, and the wind blowing. I'm thankful I have legs that work, and I can walk without the use of a wheelchair or walker. I'm thankful I have use of my hands and arms, and I am not a para or quadriplegic.

18. Brian is able to be home every night. I know a lot of husbands that have jobs that take them away from home at nights, days or even weeks at a time. I'm thankful we get to see him every day and get to spend most evenings with him.

19. My family is close. Being in the ministry, you never know where God is going to lead you. For the last few years I have been blessed to live close to my family. We have lived by Brian's family, and now we have been able to live by mine. It's nice to have family close, because you never know when God might move some of us, and we could be 100's of miles apart. So, we take what time we have and consider it precious, and make as many memories as we can with what time we have together.

20. We live in America. I'm so glad that I live in a free country, and we aren't bound by slavery and dictatorship. (yet, anyway)

21. Our soldiers. I was just reading over some of my old posts on here, and was reminded once again of our friend, and army soldier, Gary, who was killed defending our country. I don't know a lot of soldiers, but I know more today than I use to and even if I didn't know 1, I would still be grateful for our soldiers and the sacrifice that they make for our country.

22. My Heavenly Father. I mentioned my salvation, and God's Word, and this is kinda along those same lines, but different. I'm thankful I have a heavenly father that I can talk to anytime, day or night. I have talked about my husband, my family, his family, and friends, but when I am all alone and there is no one to talk to or call or if I have something I can't talk to anybody about, HE is always there for me. When I can't sleep in the middle of the night, he's there just to listen while I jabber on about everything. I'm so thankful for the relationship that I have with him, and that he is always near me.

23. Peace. Until you've known peace, you won't understand this. Like I said earlier, I struggled with doubting my salvation, and when I finally got it nailed down, I have that perfect peace. I tend to be a somewhat paranoid person. I have 3x5 cards laying on my nightstand with scripture verses written on them that I can grab at a moments notice when certain things start to bother me. I'm so thankful God always comes through with that wonderful peace I need, right when I need it. He calms my spirit, and there's nothing like laying your head down at night, with not a care/worry in the world.

24. (This one may sound silly, but it's legit.) The internet. If it weren't for the internet, I would have lost contact with so many of my friends, and family. I'm thankful I have e-mail, because I am horrible at sending letters, and I'm thankful for social networking, like facebook, where I can keep up with friends and family, who are 100's of miles away, and still see pictures of their sweet families, watch videos of their babies sweet smiles, and feel like I am still part of their lives even though I am so far away.

25. (Last, but not least.) YOU! Thanks for taking time to stop by my little blog and read my posts. I don't have many followers (2 I think) but I enjoy getting on here and writing sometimes. So, if you are reading this, thanks for your time.