Thankful

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday. I love spending time with my awesome family and getting to enjoy the company of people who mean so much to me. It's always been fun to grow up with a big extended family. I look forward to the time we get to spend together. As a kid, I have so many great memories of traveling down to the lake with my mom's side of the family and spending the holiday there. As we got older, we spent our Thanksgivings here with my dad's side of the family. The memories I have with both of those sides are precious and are especially meaningful now that some of those family members are no longer with us. I think holidays can be hard in that sense because you just don't know how to accept the changes that come with families growing and changing over time. Fortunately, I know that the bonds within my family are strong enough to carry on generation after generation and I'm excited that Caleb (and any other future children) will be a part of that.

Aside from the time spent with family, Thanksgiving is also a great time to remember what we're thankful for. It actually hit me earlier this week when my coworker and I were showing a cartoon about the first Thanksgiving; we are so very blessed to have the lives that we have here in America. To think how this country started and what lengths those first pilgrims went to just for the freedom they longed for is amazing. It sounds cheesy, but I often wonder if I would be willing to give up so much of what I have and take a huge risk like they did. Although the story of the pilgrims and Native Americans seems to just be a lesson we talk about in elementary school, it is a true story nonetheless. We should reflect on where this holiday came from and what it means to us now.

On that note, I'd like to list off the top 10 things I've been thankful for this year:

1. I'm thankful for the home that we have. It's no mansion and compared to what most people in my generation seek out, it's a rather humble abode. But it's perfect for us and I love that I can call it home.

2. I'm thankful for having a healthy baby and surviving my first 8 months of motherhood! I can't believe how much I've learned in less than a year and how much joy one little child can bring to the world around him.

3. I'm thankful for a sister. I never truly valued that term like my mom always told me I would. She and her sister always grew up with the same relationship that my sister and I had. She always told me that one day my view would change and it certainly has. My sister is a friend that is built into my life forever. We don't have to work at our relationship or spend tons of time together to know that we mean a lot to each other. Despite our differences, we're still very similar and I love that she's part of my life.

4. I'm thankful for a dad and mom who would go to the ends of the earth and back for me, my husband, my child, and anyone else they love. There aren't enough words to describe how wonderful my parents are. I truly can say that they are the best parents a girl could ask for. From those days in childhood when I thought I had the meanest parents right up until now when I know I have the best ones, I know that everything they've done is out of love. They are the best!

5. I'm thankful for a husband who is the best husband I could ever ask for. Nobody will ever find the perfect guy or girl, but I've come pretty close to getting that in Tyler! He's an amazing husband and daddy. And even on those days when we just don't see eye to eye, he still manages to love me.

6. I'm thankful for a father, mother, and sister-in-law who aren't the nightmare ones you hear about from your girlfriends! I'm thankful that through their efforts, they've raised such a wonderful person for me to marry and raise a new generation with. I'm also thankful that despite the fact that they do live far away, it isn't too far (it may be a long drive, but at least a visit doesn't require plane tickets and a whole days worth of traveling).

7. I'm thankful for a job that I love and for finding my passion early in life. I've never had to doubt if my career choice was the right one for me. Working with young children is the most rewarding profession! To see smiling faces, get hugs on a daily basis, and see the light bulb turn on for a kid who's really been struggling is just an amazing feeling. I love what I do and I love the kids I grow attached to year after year.

8. I'm thankful for friends new and old. As life goes on you realize more and more how difficult it can be to stay in touch with everyone you ever develop a friendship with. The memories made though are still priceless and can keep that friendship special no matter how much you do or don't stay in touch. No matter what point I've been at in life, I've always had people to be right by my side and I'm incredibly thankful for that!

9. As dorky as it sounds, I'm thankful for my health. I'm so blessed to have the ability to wake up everyday and exercise. I don't have to overcome physical obstacles just to drive to work or walk through the grocery store. I'm also blessed to have had the chance to experience a healthy pregnancy as it seems like more and more girls I know are struggling to get that chance.

10. More than anything else, I am thankful for a God who has crafted my life in such a way that I have so much to be thankful for. The nine things I've listed above are in no part because of something I've done. God has given me all of these things and made everything work out in just the way He wanted it to. I think about how different my list of things would be if I had the final decision in everything instead of Him. We would be living in one of the first houses we put an offer on, which looking back would've been way too small and not practical at all. Without God, I honestly might not have survived my first few weeks of parenting as I felt major symptoms of the baby blues and my only hope at times was that God would get me through it. Without God's plan for my life, I could've ended up with a family that didn't give me all the love in the world, raise me to be who I am today, and still mean the world to me. In fact, I always wondered as a child how I ended up having the mom and dad I had and how it was that I grew to have the traits I did. Looking back, I know that God put me with all these people for a reason and I'm thankful for that. I also know that if it had been up to me instead of God, I wouldn't have been working as a full time classroom teacher this year. Thank God I am because the children I'm working with this year are amazing and I can't imagine never having met them. I could go on and on, but I know most readers of this blog are just interested in the pictures I post (which I haven't posted any of today). I just love to reflect sometimes on the awesomeness of a God who sees the whole picture when we just see a part of it...a God who knows what's best for us, even when it's not even close to what we think is good...and a God who gives us so much to be thankful for if we just take the time to really think about all the blessings He gives!

Happy Thanksgiving to all who are reading this. Chances are if you're reading this blog, you've been a part of my life and in one way or another you fit into that list of things I'm thankful for!