It's been a while since I've written and I thought it was about time that I did! And what has gotten me into the writing mood you ask? THANKSGIVING!!! I love the holidays, always have and I imagine that I always will! My sweet Doug loved the holidays as well, so the last holiday seasons without him have been...interesting, I'll put it that way. However, this was not meant to be a downer! Yes! Doug loved the holidays! Yes! I MISS HIM! But, I know that my God in heaven is bigger than death and it has no power over me! So...my first thought was, "what are you thankful for?" posing it to my audience...yet, there is so much that I am thankful for and I thought of this as I am sitting in my kitchen in a house I don't deserve with what I consider all the amenities! Here's my thankful list:
My GOD! Without Him we are nothing, with Him we are everything!
My children...words cannot express how amazingly thankful I am to our God who gave me these two precious gifts. They have taught me so much!
My home. Another gift from above; the kids and I say that the new car (which I am thankful for as well!) and the house are gifts from daddy because sadly if Doug hadn't have gone to be with Jesus we wouldn't have them...yet we'd have Doug. So I choose to think that Doug still wants to lavish us with all kinds of gifts ;-).
Air. We breathe relatively clean air.
Water. We drink relatively clean water.
Clothing. I feel fortunate enough to live in a country that provides such luxuries as excess clothing.
Speaking of country (and speech, lol!). I am thankful for this country's freedoms and the men and women who fight for those freedoms! If I haven't said it lately THANK YOU for your service!
My job. Often I've been known to say that I LOVE my job! And usually I say it sarcastically because something isn't going right that day, or I may have had some issues come up. However, I am truly thankful that I have a job and I work with some pretty cool people.
Time. Because of my job schedule I am afforded more time than most single working moms, for that I feel more than thankful...I feel blessed.
Friends. And by friends I mean the family kind. You know, the family you get to choose. I have some amazing friends who have been through thick and thin and still have stuck around. They know me better than I know myself sometimes and because they love me they tell me how it is...sometimes lovingly and sometimes not. BUT the fact remains that they are there for me and because they have been through the tough times I KNOW they are not going anywhere and I wouldn't have it any other way. Some friends come and go and some are worth the fight to keep them around.
Family. This list isn't in any order...really I'm typing as I'm thinking yet it doesn't mean that my family is less important than my home. I've been blessed with multiple families that sometimes was rough...yet it shaped me into the Alicia you see today, hopefully more like the Alicia God had originally intended and less like the fleshy Alicia that has been known to come around.
Church. Both THE church and MY church. The body of Christ...BIG church. I'm a rules kinda gal, I like structure and THE church has given me the structure I've needed. MY church has been Jesus with flesh on and I wouldn't change any one of them! We are a unique group of individuals ranging from babies all the way up to I'm not sure! And each and everyone of them loves as Jesus loves, gives as Jesus gives and even cries as Jesus cries.
OK...the list could go on and on and ON! Now...what are you thankful for?
