Blessings & Thankfulness....

Happy November. This is the month where we celebrate Thanksgiving. A month I thought would be fitting to write down some of the many things I am thankful for in my life. So everyday this month I will jot down a handful of blessings, gifts, and thankful thoughts... I owe all to God.

1. The first and foremost gift I am ever so thankful for is God Himself. For taking me out of the darkness so many years ago. For saving me from the fiery road to hell. He has convicted my heart and restored it with hope, faith and promise of eternal life. How could such a gift be overlooked? Everyday I wake, I am thankful for this particular undeserving gift...thankful that I have this life here and now and the ultimate gift to live forever when I pass from this life on earth. That is the ultimate gift one could ever receive. One so humbling...I wonder sometimes why me? I am a nobody....But truly I am a someone in the Lords eyes.

2. I am grateful for the tender man given to me. My dear Mr. Darling. The first man to love me like no one ever has. Who knows who I really am inside and out and takes me the way that I am. God knew I needed him...patient, loving, God fearing. He is my better half who keeps me going, always encourages me, who cheers me on when I feel I can't move on. He tells me I'm beautiful even when I wake up with hair tossed to and fro. He is my best friend who knows all my secrets, feelings and thoughts that no one else but God knows. He is my everything...I couldn't and wouldn't ask for anything more.

3. I am thankful for my son. He was a bouncing bundle of 9 lbs. 10 oz. baby boy. Always sweet as could be, never gave me guff or heartache. Even now as he is fast approaching young adulthood, he is one of the kindest, loving, caring souls one would ever know. He is open about his feelings, shares with us what's going on in his life, always gives us a hug and kiss goodbye/hello or goodnight. I am thankful for what he is becoming...One who loves the Lord, who wants to do things that are right in God's eyes who respects his parents...what more could a parent want...really. He is my blessing.

4. I am thankful for my daughter. God knew I needed her. After the loss of our second child...I though my world would end...though I kept going because of my wonderful husband and little boy who encouraged me to move on....several years after that loss I became pregnant...a gift for real. She was a surprise...I found out new Years Day 2000, I was expecting. For some strange reason...I didn't want a girl. Perhaps I was comfortable with the already 6 year old boy I had and felt I wouldn't know what to do with a girl...Yet, when we found out we were having a girl, my heart softened and looked forward to her coming. A long pregnancy, illness and almost losing her more than half way through she came into our lives as fast as she got there. She struggled in her little self for many months...depending only on me. She was a lot more strong willed...a will that was tamed with patience, love and on going lessons. She is a sweet, shy spirit... my little shadow always by my side, a giggling, happy child who adores her family and growing into quite the young lady. God surely knows what is best and what we need even when we don't think we need it...She is my blessing in disguise.

5. I am thankful for the gift of having children...when there are so many in this world who will never have the experience of carrying a child in their womb. Many reasons we may never be able to fathom. Yet, for many God has given the gift of being able to feel the growth of a child within their womb, an experience and feeling that is so hard to explain....and so amazingly extraordinary. I am thankful for having the opportunity to have carried my babies, feeling their little bodies move about and grow and giving birth to them. A feeling I can't explain...but ever so grateful to have experienced.

This concludes my first day of blessings and thanksgiving. I hope you enjoyed the first handful of my thoughts. I hope this too will encourage you to think deeply about the many blessings you have to be thankful for. have a wonderful week dear readers.