Thankful

I have so many things to be thankful for....we all do!  Even when times are tough and our lives seem to be crumbling around us, we can choose to be thankful.  The Lord has blessed us with so much.  We live in a time of abundance and in a free country!  All of us have a place to call home, family, friends, and even a computer to access the internet from! :-)  In an effort to thank the Lord for all that He has blessed me with, I thought I would make a list of just some of things I am thankful for!  This is by no means a way for me to brag about my accomplishments or the things I have, but is my attempt to brag on the Lord and what He has done in my life.  I know that every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord! (James 1:17)

• My salvation - Jesus paid the price for my sin and covered me with His perfection.  That right there is enough to be thankful for even if you can't think of anything else!
• My family - I have the most amazing family (immediate and extended).  My husband is amazing!  I don't even know where to start with how much I love him!  He is definitely my best friend!  And my little girl is our little miracle.  I never knew I could love someone so much, so fast!  Then there's my parents who raised me in a Godly home and taught me about Jesus from a very young age (I'm sure they were reading me bible stories while in utero!)  I also have the most amazing siblings who love the Lord and are such a bright spot in my life.  I so wish they all lived closer!!  I have amazing aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, and grandparents too!  There isn't a family better than mine...I promise! :-)  But on top of all that, I have been blessed with the most amazing in-laws!  My mother and father in-law are amazing!  I always hear horror stories about mother-in-laws, but I have never found a negative thing to say about mine.  She is awesome!!  My two sister-in-laws are more like sisters to me than in-laws and I love them to pieces!  Not to mention my two brother-in-laws, who are a blast too! :-)  Who has it better than me?!?!
• My friends - Throughout my life I have been blessed with amazing friends.  Many of my closest friends growing up are still some of my closest friends today.  But I have also made some of my best friends within the last 5 years that we have lived in Atlanta.  It was tough moving to a city where we knew no one, but now some of our closest friends live right here. 
• Brian's job - I do not take lightly the fact that my husband has a wonderful job (these days many people are without one).  He has been very fortunate to have a job in the finance world that has remained stable through all the chaos.  We are blessed that we are able to live on his salary alone and that I am able to stay home with our little girl.
• Being a stay-at-home mom - This is the job I always dreamed of doing.  What a blessing to be able to stay home every day with my little peanut!
• Our house - We have a safe and secure place to live and raise our daughter in.  We have running water, air conditioning, heat, electricity, food, water, and a place to sleep at night.  It is so easy to take these things for granted because everyone around us has them too, but not every one in every country is as blessed as we are!
• Our church - When we moved to Atlanta we were overwhelmed with the vast array of churches to choose from.  The Lord led us to Perimeter Church through a pastor at my home church (Riverbend Community Church) in Ormond Beach, FL.  We could not feel more blessed to call Perimeter our home church.  We are so thankful that Hannah will be under the preaching and teaching of that church and will be raised in a church that preaches the truth!
• Health - While so many people around us are dealing with overwhelming healthy issues, the Lord has blessed me and Brian (and Hannah) with our health.  We are so thankful for every day that the Lord continues to bless us and keep us healthy!

Those are just the top things that I am thankful for today....I could go on and on.  It's the big things and the little things that make me feel so blessed. 

Take time today to thank the Lord for His many blessings in your life!