Be Thankful...

With Thanksgiving around the corner, it is time to reflect on the many and too numerous to mention them all blessings that are in my life. Since I am turning 30 on Thanksgiving I have decided to give 30 things I am thankful for.
1. I am thankful that I was raised in a Christian home that taught me about the love of Jesus Christ who died for my sins and rose again so that I can live eternal life.
2. I am thankful for a loving husband who cherishes me every day and loves me for all that I am...the good, the bad, and the ugly.
3. I am thankful for a little girl named Kaylee who has taught me so much. I love hearing her tell us Bible stories and for others to tell us that they see that Kaylee loves the Lord.
4. I am thankful for a little baby named Reese. It has been such a joy seeing her develop into her little personality.
5. I am thankful for my mom. She is the woman I strive to be. I thank God for every day that He gave me with her and all the things she was able to teach me while she was alive,
6. I am thankful for Dad and Patti. They love us and they love my children. I am thankful that God sent Patti to Dad because he is happier now than I have ever seen him.
7. I am thankful for my sister. I can talk to her when I can't talk to others and she understands me when I miss my mom.
8. I am thankful for my mother and father-in-law, Bruce and Jere. They are truly examples of Christ. They are loving and giving of themselves and always there when I need them.
9. I am thankful for Janell, April and Lee Pat. They are wonderful with my children who truly adore their aunts and uncles.
10. I am thankful for Matt, Tammye, Lacy, Jordan, Cooper, and Blaine. God is never finished growing a family together.
11. I am thankful for my grandparents and Phillip's grandparents. We have been extremely blessed to have such Godly influences in our lives. Because of them, we all have a relationship with Jesus Christ. They taught us about marriage, family and Jesus.
12. I am thankful for the church that we are in. God has blessed us with our first church. It is full of wonderful people that have beautiful hearts and are ready to serve the Lord.
13. I am thankful for my job. It allows me to be able to spend time with my children and still work.
14. I am thankful for Craig and Fallon. Craig is the pastor at one of the other churches and it has been such a blessing to have them here and to be able to get together and swap stories.
15. I am thankful for all of our friends that we have. Each play an important role in our lives and each have an important influence on us.
16. I am thankful for my friend Cara who I had lost contact with at Tech and was reunited with when we were both in our last trimesters and how she recognized me I will never know, but now we work together.
17. I am thankful for Joe, Andrea and Ella. They have taught me so much. They have had a rough 18mo but have never given up on God and they give Him all the glory.
18. I am thankful for the home that I live in. It is warm and dry and gives me and my family protection.
19. I am thankful for the food and drink that sustain me.
20. I am thankful for reliable transportation. Well, I guess I can't say the Mazda is reliable but it runs...right now anyway.
21. I am thankful for the clothes on my back and that my children have had clothes given to them so that our money can go somewhere else.
22. I am thankful for knowledge. God has given us all knowledge to learn and to think. He has given doctors and scientists knowledge to make medications that help so many people.
23. I am thankful for a Christian president. He may not always make the decisions I would make, but thankfully I don't know all the things he has to know in order to make the decisions he makes.
24. I am thankful for God's grace. Amazing grace...good grace. A grace that I will never deserve. One that I can never earn, but grace that is sufficient for even me.
25. I am thankful for forgiveness. Not only for the forgiveness of my sins but the forgiveness of the ones I love when I am human and mess up or say things I shouldn't.
26. I am thankful for God's love. His love is unmeasurable and unconditional. I cannot even fathom the extent of His love that He would send His son, knowing that He would have to die on the cross for a wretch like me.
27. I am thankful for rain. I love the rain and the storms and the smell after the rain and that rainbows that come afterwards that signifies the promise that God has given to all of us.
28. I am thankful for the sunrise and the sunset and all the beauty of the earth. God is the most amazing painter.
29. I am thankful for my Bible and for being able to look to it for encouragement, for solutions to my problems and to build a better relationship with Him.
30. Lastly I am thankful that I am a work in progress and that God has given me some many things to be thankful for. I know that I can always strive to know my Lord more. I cherish every day I have with my handsome husband and beautiful little girls.

I hope that you are thankful today and remember to be thankful always. Because God said,"This is good, very good" when He made each of us in His own image.