Day 9 - Thank-yous

Yuck. This is where the rubber meets the road - where I have to practice what I preach. It's 2:00 in the afternoon & I have to go to work in an hour and a half. Tyler and Joren have been climbing on my lap for the last hour asking me to pay attention to them. I've been trying to get a little bookkeeping done, and I've already spent the whole morning doing it. I had a bunch of errands to run, because I just got back from vacation. It seems like there are never enough hours in the day! I want to pay attention to my kids & I have SO much to do!

When I was unpacking my suitcase this morning, I found a little note I had written during a church service last year after Thanksgiving. It was a list titled "I'm Thankful for:". I had written down
1. God's grace
2. My boys & family
3. AP
4. Health
5. Provision
6. Friends like Carmel
7. Freedom

I never did come up with all 10 things. It seems kind of sad to me that I couldn't think of 3 more things to be thankful for. I remember a college professor telling me that if I was ever having a rough day, I should take out a piece of paper and write down the 10 things that were frustrating me. Then, I should rip that paper up, let it go, and write down 20 things that I was thankful for. It was such a great exercise for me then, and I still do it fairly often. Today definitely feels like a day that would be good to remind myself of all the things I have to be thankful for!

1. Still have to put God's grace at #1!
2. My boys & Family
3. AP (could probably be family now :-)
4. A warm, safe place to live
5. A job! (or 3!)
6. Freedom
7. Life
8. Life + Health
9. Healthy Kids
10. Good friends to spend time with
11. A great church to go to
12. A vacation I just got to take
13. Plenty of clothes to stay warm
14. Enough food to eat
15. Lots of opportunities to celebrate Jesus' birthday!
16. Health Insurance
17. Grandparents that are very generous & involved in my life
18. A vehicle that runs & is paid for
19. A new house
20. An opportunity to have RELATIONSHIP with God because Jesus was born

I was listening to the radio today & heard a pastor talking about the fact that Mary could've been stoned for getting pregnant and not being married. When the angel came to her and told her she would have God's son, that MUST'VE crossed her mind! But, she still sang praises to God. I can't relate to immaculate conception in a time that pregnancy out of wedlock could mean death, but I've certainly felt overwhelmed by my circumstances. I'm going to tape my list on my bathroom mirror to remind me that there are always things to be thankful for, even when the day seems miserable. Then, I'm going to go play "wrestle mania" on the floor with my boys!

Prayer
"Lord, thank you. For EVERYTHING."
Amen