Thankfulness

Originally posted on MySpace 11/16/07

So I was sitting here thinking about Thanksgiving and about what I will say this year when asked the standard question during this time of year..."What are you Thankful for?" This is what I've come up with so far...

I'm thankful I live in a country that even though is far from its spiritual foundations is still one of the only countries where I am free and safe to Worship my Savior

I'm thankful I have wonderful parents who have sacrificed so many things throughout the years just to see me nurtured, healthy, and even a little spoiled.

I'm thankful I have family, even though I live so far away from most of them, they are always in my heart and mind and I cherish the memories that live within my heart. And I know that I could call any time and any one of them would be right there for me, and I hope they know I'd do the same.

I'm thankful for my brothers, who throughout the years have gone from being pesky little "brats" to my very best friends in the world. Boys, so many of my favorite and best times have been shared with ya'll and I wouldn't trade any of it for anything in the world. You both are treasures to me.

I'm thankful for my friends here in TN that have become my family. It's hard leaving all you know behind, but your friendships and love make it easier to be so far away. Thank you for the memories, the laughs, the tears, the smiles, the good times and even the bad. I wouldn't change a thing.

I'm thankful for my job, not for the money but for the opportunity to share one of the most amazing things in the world with perfect strangers. Its an amazing thing to witness the joy of birth and I am honored to have shared so many memories with people I'll never see again. Its a privilege to be trusted to help a women through the toughest journey she has ever embarked on.

I'm thankful for the things in my life that I once regretted. I've learned that although there may have been a better way to make it though, those experiences are apart of who I am. I've come to terms with the fact that fretting over them will not change them and nothing I can do will make it go away. I've realized that its best to learn, gain the wisdom available and move on, leaving everything else behind. Its a heavy load to carry the past around with you, its a lot better to just lay it down, repent and go on to better things.

I'm thankful for everyday that I get a chance to live once again. Some aren't granted another day, and I never want to take it for granted.

I'm thankful for my cousins and their fellow service men who have laid down their lives for our nations freedom. I know many have given their actual life's, I'm thankful that my cousins have simply given their service, but I take not for granted that at any moment that couldv'e changed.

I'm thankful that God chose to save me from myself. I was born hell-bound and deserved nothing less, yet even before I was born He chose to send His only Son to this sin-ridden, dead world and rescue us from ourselves. He had nothing to gain and no guarantee that we'd even respond, but HE took the chance and laid down His life, in hopes that His creation would take it as a gift of unadulterated, unfathomable, incomparable, unwarranted, unchangeable, never ending LOVE. I chose to take it and its the best thing I ever did. =)

So, thats some of what I'll say this year when I'm asked what I'm thankful for!!! (at least this year I won't go...mmmmm, well, lets see...IDK!haha)