Some things I'm thankful for

A friend recently asked a question about what I'm thankful for...I'm thankful for so much in my life and it takes a question such as this sometimes to really stop to sit and be thankful for some of the most important things in our lives.

My favorite author, Henri Nouwen says it best...

"~Gratitude ... goes beyond the "mine" and "thine" and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy. --Henri J. M. Nouwen

First of all, I'm thankful for God's love. Without Him I am nothing and my human nature merits nothing outside of Him. He has brought me through every age and stage in my life and provided the only love that makes me whole.

Second, I am so thankful for the friends that have surrounded me as family. I love my blood family members like my brother and aunts and uncles and cousins, however, I have felt especially blessed by those who have opened thier hearts and homes to me when I needed a sense of stability and belonging. I am so thankful for the encouragement, acountability, and rich experiences everyone in my life has provided. When God created people, he did it so intricately to provide us with different personalities, features, gifts, etc. When I stop to think about what that really means....it blows me away...

I am excited moving into this Christmas season to be around some of my greatest blessings