Thanksgiving

My favorite holiday (after Veteran's Day) is almost here! I've always loved Thanksgiving - I love the season that it's in, it's near my birthday, it's more laid back and casual than Christmas because there isn't any stress over presents, and everyone gets to sit around, enjoy good food & each other, and reflect on what we're thankful for. So in light of that, I thought I'd take a moment and share what I'm thankful for this year...

1. First, my gracious and loving Heavenly Father. Each year I grow more and more in my faith and He is there to renew me each day and draw me closer to Him. I am so grateful that He calls me his own and loves me despite all of my flaws & shortcomings.
2. My wonderful and loving husband. Once again he amazes me with his hard work and diligence - he (somehow!) manages to balance school (full-time seminary classes & German), work (UPS and part-time job at Covenant), his internship, several pulpit-filling opportunities, and his family. Through all of this, we have been able to have great health insurance, go on a couple wonderful vacations, and will graduate in May with almost ZERO debt! wow!! And while you may think we never get to see each other, I never feel neglected. He works really hard during the week so we get to enjoy our weekends together - whether we're watching football, shopping at Walmart or going to the movies, our time together is always special!
3. Our families! I am so thankful that we both have such loving and supportive parents, we are truly blessed. And this includes our extended family too - we lean on them so much for support & prayers - we miss them all so much since we are far away from everyone, it seems, and it's so nice when we can get home to see them.
4. The CTS community & our fabulous neighbors. Never would I have guessed that we would make such wonderful friends here in St Louis, especially living in the ghetto! Atherton has been such a great place to live, even though we had our doubts and were disappointed when we couldn't get into Gulf Drive, we never would have changed a thing - except a second bedroom would have been nice... Building #8449 rocks!
5. Bunny & Brooks! My little critters bring me so much joy when I am home by myself - I love watching Bunny throw her toys around and constantly try and sneak into the bedroom (it is her main goal in life) and Brooks is so precious when you walk over to his tank and he swims (& wiggles - you should see Bobby inpersonate him!) just to get some attention. It's the greatest!
6. Email/Internet - without it I wouldn't be able to communicate so well with my dear friends all over the country - especially the one in Virginia who brings so much joy to my day while I'm at work. (yes, I check my email while I'm working... it keeps me sane)
7. This list is getting long so I'll summarize everything else into this last point: shelter, food, cars, HEALTH, safety, heat/air conditioning, cable tv, jobs, Body for Life, email, President Bush, Kirk of the Hills PCA church, Walmart, entertainment (movies, books, music, etc), and everything else that I can't think of right now...

So as you can see, I have a LOT to be thankful for this year!