Do you remember back to those days in elementary and middle school when this time of year rolled around and your teachers asked you to write a list or draw a picture of things you were thankful for? It seemed so routine back then. The teacher would hand you a construction paper cut-out shaped like a turkey, leaf, pumpkin, or even a cornucopia. Then you would list one word responses as they came to mind. From what I can remember, mine typically went something like this: "I am thankful for...my family, friends, food, clothes, shelter..." Granted, the list probably became a bit more elaborate as I got older, but you get the idea. Then, the teacher would display what we were thankful for on a hallway bulletin board for others to see.
It's kind of funny to me that now, many years later, I was just thinking about this for whatever the reason. In the adult world, I feel like it's so easy to get caught up in our day-to-day affairs, that we oftentimes forget to stop and realize how blessed we really are. Please don't think for a second that I'm pointing fingers here. I'll be the first to admit that I am guilty of this far too often. Sometimes I think it's almost like we have this sense of entitlement....the notion that "I deserve to have a great job...I went to college" or "I deserve to go out to dinner several nights a week....I work hard all day!" But whenever those thoughts pop into our heads, we need to push them aside and remember that these things are not entitlements, but rather, they are blessings from God, and they can be taken away from us just as quickly as He gave them to us.
I took a women's studies course during my junior year at JMU (it turned out to be a terrible idea on my part, but I thought it was going to be an easy A, and by the time I realized that the opposite was true, there were no other electives left that would fit in my schedule. I painfully tolerated the class and did a LOT of lip biting, and did manage to pull out an A in the end, but I digress). I remember one topic that was discussed in that class quite frequently was the idea of oppression of certain groups in society (for brevity's sake, I will not elaborate on this, as it will likely throw me into a tangent). One of the discussion topics that my professor brought up (and many in the class sided with her on) was the idea that it is wrong for you or me to refer to ourselves as being "blessed," because that insinuates that we think we're better and more deserving of gifts/material wealth/social & economic stature/social acceptance/etc. than oppressed individuals/groups. I honestly can't recall a statement from a professor in my entire 3.5 years of college that made me feel more angry/upset/violated/hurt than that moment. How can anyone possibly be of the notion that it's selfish to consider yourself BLESSED?!?!?! Is anyone else on board with me in thinking that it's beyond selfish to consider ourselves as anything BUT blessed?! There are certainly plenty of less fortunate individuals in the world, but God expects us to use our blessings to help those in need.
So, while I still ended up going off on the tangent that I had intended to avoid, hopefully you can still see my point. We are never too young or old, too rich or poor, too busy or bored, too hurt or depressed to stop counting our blessings. Therefore, I'd like to take a few moments to expand upon my elementary school assignment and share what I'm thankful for with you. And yes, I realize that I posted a similar list back in the summer after my surgery, but in my opinion, you can also never count your blessings too often! :)
I'm thankful for.....
- a wonderful, strong, and loving family and great friends who are always here for me through everything
- being able to spend Thanksgiving with my family, especially God's blessing of letting Dad spend one more Thanksgiving with us, and his determination not to adhere to what the doctors predicted
- faith. I have absolutely no idea how anyone manages to get through life without it.
- good, soul-soothing music. Songs with lyrics that tug at your heartstrings and remind you of special/fond memories. Maybe that's a weird thing to be thankful for, however, I've been dealing with some pretty painful stuff in my life lately, and the music really helps. I don't like silence, especially when I'm by myself with lots of time to think, so the likes of Daughtry, Jon McLaughlin, John Mayer, Lifehouse, Five For Fighting, Josh Wilson, Matthew West, and Chris Tomlin have all been dominating my playlists lately. There's nothing quite like a song that fully expresses exactly how you're feeling at any given moment in time.
- having a job that I enjoy and the best bosses/coworkers/friends that I could possibly ask for!
- overall good health, positive follow-up reports at the retinal specialist, and a diagnosis for my knee injury so it can start healing
- forgiveness. Goodness knows I've made well beyond my share of mistakes, so it sure is refreshing to know that with a simple prayer for forgiveness, God wipes the slate clean
- great memories and the people who experienced them with me. Even when you're going through a sad or painful time, all it takes is one sweet memory to make you smile :)
- concerts & football games
- fun times, laughter, & every moment of every day that brings happiness to the people I care about :)
