I am thankful.
I am thankful for
Katie who makes me laugh. I am thankful for
Tracy and her wisdom and
thoughtfulness. I am so thankful for
Danielle whose heart is beautiful, wise, and hilarious. I am thankful for
Sara and her loving
nature. I am thankful for
Paige and her
kindness and awesome cupcakes. I am
thankful for
Savannah, her attention to detail, and her dirt cake. I am thankful for
Jillian and her sense of
humor and funny facial expressions, because they remind me of mine. I am thankful for
Tabria and her uplifting,
sweet, uncrushable, genuine spirit. I am
thankful for
Lacey for sharing who she is and her generosity, and ability to
laugh off her mistakes. I am thankful for
Lauren, because she is hilarious, wise, and tender in her ways of edifying
others. I am thankful for
Egypt, her
honesty, and who she is as a complete person.
I am thankful for
Lindsay and her nature to reach out to others and
encourage them. I am thankful for
Faith,
for her strength drawn from pain and encouraging nature. I am thankful for
Roz, and her endearing,
funny, sweet heart. I am thankful for
Tony, and his generosity and willingness to take me up on my offer to
help. I am thankful for
Leonard for his
never-give-up attitude and tenderness toward his sisters, but man-up attitude
towards his homies. I am thankful for
Justin for always offering brotherly love, the right verse, the right words, and an invitation
to hang. I am thankful for
Christine and
her undying desire to pursue Christ and His will for her. I am thankful for
Tabitha for a multitude of
reasons, including her will to pursue Christ.
I am thankful for
Micaela, for her humor and attitude full of grace and
truth. I am thankful for
my dogs and
their unending love. I am thankful for
the smell of cinnamon. I am thankful for
red leaves on fall trees. I am thankful
for good music. I am thankful for
chicken-minis from Chick-fil-a.
I am thankful for my past. I am thankful for my present. I am thankful for whatever awaits me in my
future, God. Whatever will come, will
come. As for the now, I will trust You
through the pain. When I can’t feel You,
I will search out one of the many friends with whom You have blessed me. Forgiveness isn’t easy. Moving on isn’t easy. Taking my thoughts captive isn’t easy. Every day is a struggle, and I know I’m still
sad…but I will cling to You.
Because whatever You desire to give me is GOOD. It’s BETTER.
I don’t want garbage, God. You
know what’s best for me. I only think I do. Snuff out my stubbornness, let me bear this
pain—even better, let me let it go! Let
me understand it wasn’t Your will, and I’m only hurting myself by hanging on
and wanting something poisonous. Let me
move on, and be thankful, and rejoice in what’s to come!
PS. Here's the thing. I know naming names gets people in trouble, so let me just say if I didn't say I'm thankful for you, it's only because I'm tired and old. More people than I can thank have touched my life in a multitude of ways. I hope you all know somewhere in your hearts what you've done for my life.
