Giving Thanks

I have been bountifully blessed.  God's blessings, in my life and all around our little world, are so big and so encompassing that my brain easily takes all of these things for granted. 

In an effort to recognize and catalog so much of what I have been given, I have written a list of 50 things for which I am currently feeling particularly thankful.  The following list is in no particular order and is by no means comprehensive, but I think it is a pretty good start. 

I am thankful...

1.  For my God who is full of grace and mercy and for my relationship with Him.

2.  For my husband.  I am forever appreciative of his never-ending kindness, his silly songs, his hand that so often holds tightly to mine, his fun loving ways, his passion for things like education, politics and organic foods, his faith, and the way that he loves me.

3.  For this little baby in my tummy that God has entrusted us with.

4.  For a pregnancy that has been easy and that is continually teaching me about the wonders of the human body and the connection a mama can feel for her unborn babe.

5.  For my parents.  I love them.  They love me.  They want the best for me.  They have made many sacrifices that have helped me throughout my life.  They were a big part of making me who I am.

6.  For my sister.  She is my best friend.  She is also my sounding board for so many different things in my life.  I would trust her with anything and everything that I held dear.

7.  For a big and giant network of people that I can call family.  I have been blessed beyond measure with not only the wonderful people that make up the family I was born into, but also my step families, fabulous in-laws and many, many friends that I consider part of my family.

8.  For my sweet Mabel.  Daily, she reminds me to enjoy the little things in life like naps, treats, belly scratches and walks around the neighborhood.

9.  For my camera.  Capturing the beauty of every day life and immortalizing all those little moments make me happy. 

10.  For the library.  Free books.  That's about as good as it gets.  Also, I am enamored with the “reserve” feature that allows me to put my name on a waiting list for a particular book and then emails me when they are available.

 11.  That I went this entire past summer without mowing the yard.  I enjoy planting and taking care of my flowers, but mowing is not my thing.  I am so thankful to my Brian for recognizing that and sweetly taking over the responsibility.

12.  For spreadsheets.  I love to keep lists, track my progress on various projects, etc.  Spreadsheets make it all possible.  I heart them.

13.  For our church.  We are slowly becoming part of the wonderful community of people that make up our church.  I love all of the activities that we are involved with and finding new ways to express our thanks to God and continually learn about Him.

14.  For our dinner club.  It is fabulous to have scheduled get-togethers with this group of friends.  We always end up with full tummies and lots of laughs.

15.  For the gift of marriage and these first 17 months of our marriage.

16.  For our home.  I love our entryway and library, the pretty blue color of our bedroom and all of the windows.

17.  For walks.  I enjoyed going for walks with Mabel, before I met Brian.  Now, I appreciate them even more because they give us a lot of distraction-free time to talk with one another.

18.  For my Snuggie.  What can I say?  I used to make fun of them and now I am addicted to mine.

19.  For my book clubs.  Reading is my favorite pass time.  Following my reading with in-depth discussion (in the case of one of my book clubs) and/or time for yummy treats and a lot of girl talk (in the case of the other) makes it even better.

20.  For books in general.  I occasionally get a bit stressed out when I think of all of the good books in the world and the fact that I will never have time to read them all.  Then, thankfully, Brian reminds me that I get to live forever and that there will be something just as good (or probably a million times better) in heaven.  

21.  For the blogs that I read.  I am a little bit snoopy and I love to live vicariously.  So many of the blogs that I read inspire me and encourage me. 

22.  For my job.  I am thankful that I get to do meaningful work.  I am thankful for co-workers that I can call friends.

23.  For my three-days-a-week work schedule.  I don’t know how the rest of you do it.  Twelve and a half hours is a long time to be at work, but the days off make it so worthwhile.

24.  For the vegetarian sandwich at Jimmy John's.  Yum.

25.  For summer.  My favorite season.  Oh, how I wish it was summer right now.  I love the heat and the long days and having Brian at home.

26.  For Jazz in June.  I don’t really care too much about the music, but the crowd of happy people sitting in lawn chairs on a summer evening makes me just plain happy inside.   

27.  For farmer's markets.  Much like Jazz in June, I just get a kick out of being in a crowd of happy people. 

28.   For coffee shops/bookstores.  Sitting there with my hot chocolate and a book (or usually three) and my journal makes me happy.  Sometimes, we play bookstore at home and make some hot chocolate (coffee or tea for Brian) and read books by each other on the couch.  That is pretty darn good, too.

29.  For anticipation.   I am a bit of a daydreamer.  When you know that something good is coming, the anticipation of it is almost as good as the thing itself and often lasts a lot longer.

30.  For automated savings.  I am a saver.  I receive great satisfaction in watching the little bits add up to a lot.  When my deposits happen automatically it is even better.  

31.  That our basement will be finished before Baby P. arrives.

32.  That we will be able to pay for our basement finishing without taking on any debt.  Woot!

33.  For Shutterfly books.  I am a bit behind on making them, but the ones we have are fabulous and so fun to look through.  

34.  For all of the sweet kiddos in my world.  We know and love so many fun kids that make us excited to have one (or a few) of our own.   

35.  For singing.  In choir, around the house, in the car...pretty much everywhere we are.   

36.  For etsy.  It is wonderful to find so many things that are handmade by talented people and to support their small businesses.   

37.  For email and my telephone that help me stay connected with my mom and sister who live too far away.

38.  That we have entered the holiday season.  I am looking forward to a lot of time with family, lots of yummy food and putting up the Christmas tree and other holiday decorations.

39.  For my car.  It needed some major repair this summer, but it has returned to health.  It gets me where I want to go and I still like it more than 7 years after purchasing it.

40.  For yogurt.  So yummy and even good for me.

41.  For caffeine free Coke.  It's not very good for me, but I sure do it enjoy it.  

42.  For the nights that we camp out on our deck.  An air mattress on the deck with a snuggly Brian and Mabel, all the pretty stars, the wonderful outdoor air and the convenience of a bathroom and kitchen are just what the doctor orders - at least a few times each year.

43.  That I am almost done with my Christmas shopping and even have most things wrapped.  This has to be a personal record!

44.  For pinterest.  I love that site!

45.  For personal finance blogs.  Daily reading about personal finance helps to keep me motivated and inspired in my own quest towards financial freedom.

46.  For hand me downs.  Our kiddo isn't even born yet and we have already been incredibly blessed by so many friends and family.

47.  For consignment shopping.  Finding what I want at a good price makes me oh so happy.

48.  For dreams and goals.  I don't know how I'd survive without them.  

49.  For our couch.  I actually think it is an ugly thing, but sleeping on it seems to be the only way to make my back happy during this pregnancy. 

50.  For my health.  Without that, it would be hard to appreciate all of the other blessings in my life.   
 

Note:  If you have not yet read One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp and are interested in the topic of thanks giving, it is worth a read.

♥ brooke

P.S.  What are you most thankful for?  Have you ever made a list of 50 things that you have been blessed with?  Did you make a "thankful list" for this Thanksgiving?