Giving Thanks

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How does one give thanks when things seem to be going wrong?

2011 didn’t start out with a bang.  Yes, I was blessed and yes, my family and friends were doing well, but I had some internal struggles that I was dealing with.  Personal things.  Things that made me feel uncomfortable and out of place when everything around me was just fine.

Then there was heartache.  To want to be angry and upset at a situation and not be able to conjure up one malicious thought is both a blessing and a curse.  A  blessing because God didn’t allow my heart to harbor those type of feelings  and a curse because I believe you need to go through some of those feelings in order to truly heal.

 

But God… 

He’ll give you beauty for your ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. (Isaiah 61:3)

I am thankful.  I am grateful.  I am appreciative.  For every {intended space} thing.  All things - the good, the bad, the ugly  -  work together for good!  Every.single.thing.

A blanket “thanks” to God is reasonable; specific thanks lets God know that I don’t overlook not one of my blessings.  So I am specifically thankful for:

Love.

Life, health, strength, a sound mind and the activity of my limbs.  A special thanks for reversing that health scare.

Prayer.  My faith.  My relationship with God.  God’s timing.  God’s protection. God’s provision.

My family – each and every one of them but specifically…

My children, who I affectionately refer to as “the first” and “the last”.  Being a mommy is tough.  Being a single mommy, a bit tougher.  I never imagined that I’d have 2 teenagers and become an empty-nester before 40 but I’m glad that God allowed it to be this way.  Raising my boys has been a daunting yet enjoyable journey.

 

Hearing my boys (still) call me Mommy.

My friends – the ones who were in my life for a season, the ones who are here for a lifetime and the ones that I have yet to meet.  Unlike family, we get to choose our friends and it is a wonderful thing to be able to choose the people that you want to spend your life with.  They “get” me.

 

My Guy who is a hunk of awesome covered with awesome sauce.  His warm hugs, soft kisses, hand-holding, long talks and belly laughs.  And Tuesdays.

Food, shelter, clothing, water, electricity, cable, my job, my boss (past and present), my car and the ability to fill it up every time I go the gas station (because there was a day that I could only afford “$5 on pump 2”).

Natural hair, the confidence to “rock” it and the vast amount of hair products that I have to maintain it.

Compliments and criticisms.  Laughter and tears.

High heeled shoes and nail polish and all the things that make me feel like a girly girl.

Garlic hot sauce.

My Foodie group.

Fats, my cat.  I am really not a cat person but she meets me at my car when I come home and walks me to the door.

The world wide web and electronics:  Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, email, free Wi-Fi, my HTC EVO, the YouVersionBible app (and all my other apps), Hautelook, Groupon, LivingSocial, Google, blogs, Pandora, my Nook Color.

Freedom and those who fight to for it.  For my government, for my president.

I could go on and on and on and on.

And on.

My heart is filled with thanks today.

And always.

Happy Thanksgiving!