thanksgiving: a month early

Every other week or so my mom send's me an index card in the mail with a thoughtful note, or a Bible verse, an excerpt from a book she's reading, or an insightful quote. The latest one that I received said:

"If you woke up this morning & all you had was what you thanked God for the previous day...what would you have?"

I guess that this sounds a little like something you would find on a church sign. Those cheesy sayings that they put out to pull people into church.

But it really did make me think.

It's so easy to get caught up in whats wrong with the world these days.

After all, there lots of terrible things going on.

But there is also plenty to be thankful for.

I know that traditionally Thanksgiving would be the time to reflect on what blessings are in my life, but when it comes right down to it, every day should be Thanksgiving!

Christ showers me with blessings daily. Through good times & bad.

So today, I'm going to highlight some things that I am most thankful for.

First, I am thankful to have a mom that encourages me so well. She has always been kind of a silent partner, working with Christ to lead me into the person I am meant to be.

She has been supportive of the good decisions I have made and has helped me overcome many of my greatest faults. Without her, I would be a completely different person than I am today.

I'm also thankful for my roommates. It is always kind of scary to live with people that you are so close to. I live and work with these girls so we spend lots of time together. Yes we wear on one another's nerves, I'm sure of it, but at the end of the day, I know that they've got my back. It's lucky for us that we all kind of have the same sense of humor, we're sarcastic, but goofy at the same time. We can often be found dancing wildly in the living room, sitting on the counters in the kitchen instead of our couches, or watching movies while eating popcorn and M&M's. They didn't care that I turned the dining room into my art studio and they usually don't mind when my incense makes our house smell like we had an indoor bonfire. What was once just a house is truly now a home.

I'm thankful for the community that I live in. Yes it is small. No there isn't a whole lot to do. But it is special to me. I like that there are still some places untouched by the fast life of the rest of the world. I like the cows and the hay bales and the little fishing boats on the lake.

I'm thankful for the high school friends I have made through Young Life. Who knew that some of the people I would love hanging out with the most as a college grad would be high school kids? I guess to some people, that sounds incredibly creepy, but it wouldn't if you knew about Young Life. So check it out, here . They keep me young and I love them dearly.

I'm very thankful for skype! Now doesn't that sound weird?! But seriously. I have friends in California, Illinios, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, and even Nicaragua. It is so nice to be able to see their faces when I talk to them. It's nice to text them and talk on the phone, but to see their smiles and tears and reactions to stories makes all the difference.

Random List of things I'm thankful for:

glowsticks. hummus. hammocks. sunrooms. rainy days. the smoky mountains. candles. pictures. twitter. the mcminns. pandora. frontporches. green tea. hair dye. nail polish. pita bread. el sazon. my grandparents. wild flowers. coffee. running. nice perfume. my ipod. scarves. letters. eyeliner. frog rings. and my best friends.

{life is good}