A Day to Give Thanks

Today is Thanksgiving. I think its sad that we always give thanks on this day... as if it isnt as important to give thanks on every other day of the year. Im guilty of it too. Im trying to be better. Trying to take each day as a gift, give it to the Lord, and praise Him and thank Him for the things/people/situations He has blessed me with in life. I am so undeserving, and yet, He chooses to love me and provide for me on a daily basis. I think the thing is, though, that this day gives us the opportunity to voice our thankfulness more than most others... similar to a birthday in that its a day dedicated to a person - a day to celebrate that person and let them know how much they mean to us.

Anyways. Tangent over. Today is a day to give thanks. I posted a few weeks ago about how my heart has been in "thankful mode." It still is. This week has provided such an amazing reminder of all the incredible things I have been blessed with. It has been a busy week, but it has been a wonderful week.

Because today is thanksgiving, and I am continuously humbled and grateful, I figured I would follow my sisters lead with her blog posts. On this day [and every day] I am thankful for:

A Savior who loves me despite my failures, weaknesses, doubts... the list goes on. Who protects and provides for me. Who brings me through the toughest of struggles. Who has a plan for me, even if I know know it nor understand it right now. Who loves me unconditionally despite my undeserving it.

A mom who gets me. Who takes me shooting. Who laughs and dances with me. Who supports and encourages me. Who loves me always and forever.

A Steve who has given our family a life we never thought wed have. Who stands by me. Who teases me and accepts my teasing with grace. Who loves me.

A sister who was almost taken from me. Who finds joys in the simple things and encourages me to do the same. Who supports me. Who laughs with me. Who loves me for who I am.

A brother-in-law who loves my sister and takes care of her. Who gets excited to see me and spend time with our family. Who loves me.

A whole more of family who I can have a good time with. Who support me. Who is big and loud and overwhelming at times, but I wouldnt have it any other way. Who loves me.

A dog who has the sweetest heart. Who gets excited when I walk in the door and wags his tail when I kneel down to kiss him. Cats who are cute and cuddly. Animals who love me.

Friends who understand and accept me. Who encourage and listen to me. Who seek me out for help. Who love me without trying to change me.

A house - home - to return to. Which always has a warm feeling. Which is always inviting and welcoming. With a comfy bed and a relaxing atmosphere.

A car to get me to the places I need to go. Which also provides a comfort zone.

An opportunity to go to school which not everyone has. Parents who are able to help with that unfortunate cost. Professors who always have an open door, kind words, and care about where Im going and what Im doing.

Waking up each morning. Falling asleep each night. Second chances. Fresh starts. Thoughtful people. Justice. Animals. Armed forces. Great movies. Songs with a good beat. Rain. Sunshine. Fire (in a fireplace). Delicious food. Heroes to look up to.

Just to name a few things Im thankful for on this Thanksgiving.

"I will give thanks to the Lord because of His righteousness;

I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High." - Psalm 7:17

Criteria for my Husband

Last night I got to talk to my mom. We updated each other on what has been going on in each others lives, since we both are so busy and only get to talk at night, we dont get to talk nearly as often as wed like. So our conversations consist of the weeks events, all the way to what were doing at that moment. I always ask about our animals, and she always has stories to tell me about them.

In case youre just tuning in to my blog, and dont know anything about me, let me tell you something that you might not guess. I know this will be a shocker - especially with my pawprints background - but I love animals. My animals are my life. My family is centered on my animals. We are always concerned with what theyre doing, how theyre doing, where they are, what they need, loving on them, spoiling them... They are our lives.

Especially Sammy. Our sweet doofy Newfy. Ever since my baby Casey passed, Sammy has become our main priority. We take him on errands with us, we make him follow us (though he does that on his own nowadays), we sit with him while he eats, we give him treats as we make them for ourselves.... Seriously, this dog is pretty spoiled. But hes a big boy - no little man syndrome, thinking hes better than all the other dogs at the beach. Hes a sweet, sweet dog.

Yesterday, my mom was telling me how he had decided not to eat in the morning. Unfortunately, she had to go to work, so she had asked Steve to feed him before he headed out to work. Apparently, later on in the day, my mom received a message from Steve saying he had gone into work at noon instead of the morning because Sammy wasnt eating his breakfast and seemed a little down. So he decided it would be best if he hung out with our dog for the morning. Im sure this was sure a treat for Sammy as he loves Steve. So any time spent with him cheers that ol boy right up! My mom said Sam seemed more chipper when she checked on him at her lunch hour.

As she told me what Steve did and how he stayed home from work a little longer than he was supposed to - for our dog - two things came to mind. Well, three, I suppose.

One. I am so glad Steve has a job that allows him to do something like that. Its not like he was just handed this job either, he has worked for it and he continues to be the hardest working guy at that place. If he wants to take a day off to play tennis or go in late to take care of our dog, he deserves to be able to!

Second. I am so thankful for Steve and what he brings to our family. Without him, we wouldnt have so much of what we do and we wouldnt have the life we have. We would miss out on so much.

Third. I want my husband to be like that. I want to marry a guy who will put something on hold to care for our "children." And Im sure, there will be times in my household where the animals may get priority over everyone else. But I want my husband to have a caring heart like Steves, where he recognizes the importance of family and the significance of my animals. Where he decides work can wait a little while to make sure our dog is feeling ok and isnt depressed or anything. I want my husband to be like that.

Be Still

Sometimes, I think it is so interesting to read my sisters blog. Well, wait, I am always interested in reading my sisters blog. But sometimes it is more interesting because the things that she says, or the topic that shes writing about, is one that has been heavy on my own heart. Though we dont always see things the same way, we are passionate about similar things. For instance, for February, she blogged about the things she loves. For February, I blogged about why I hated February. Like I said, were passionate about similar things, but we have different takes on them in many cases.

About a week ago, I started writing a post, but the words werent flowing well, so I gave up on it. The next day, I gave you the pleasure of reading about my lip-blowout. I revert to humor when I cant think of something to write about or if the words just arent going well. My sister reverts to the little reminders of Gods blessings in her life when she cant think of anything to write about - though, in most cases, she truly is sharing the joys she gets out of life and the things the Lord has blessed her with.

Well. This wasnt meant to be a comparison of blogs. Im sure if you read my blog, you are well versed with hers. Recently, as in yesterday, she posted giving thanks. Well, the post I was working on a weekish ago, was about that exact topic. She took a bit of a different stance on it, but I was generally typing with the same idea.

Lately, I have been in a grateful mode. I should be way more often than I am. Dont get me wrong, I recognize what I have and how blessed I am. But I am not always as thankful as I should be. Its easy to get wrapped up in whats happening and the problems that surround me. Its easy to forget how much I have to be thankful for.

A few weeks ago, I decided to skip class to go to chapel. I was glad I did. It was Seek Week and the theme was Be Still. Listen to God and recognize His blessings. So we spent several minutes in prayer with our great Creator. I could not bring myself to ask for anything, but to just thank Him for all He has given me. One of the first blessings that came to my mind was my mom. She always does. Unexpectedly, I began to cry. I have such an admiration and understanding and respect for my mother. Often times, I really dont know what I would do without her love and support. I believe God knew exactly what He was doing when He "assigned" me to her. I may be a handful in most stories we have, but there is no other mother who would be a better fit for me. She is exactly what I need. We were perfectly paired.

My heart was so overwhelmed with gratitude. I continued on with the rest of my family. I cannot even begin to describe how blessed I am with my family. The way they love me and offer their protection and constant support and encouragement. I think if youre reading my blog, you know me well enough to know my love and devotion to my family. So I wont go into explicit detail. I couldnt even go nearly as far as I wanted to in my talk with the Lord because our time was up. But since then I have been trying to have a spirit of humility and gratefulness.

Several months ago, I read something. It was a bit of a challenge. "What if tomorrow you woke up and only had the things you thanked God for today?" I want to be someone who never forgets what she has. I want to be someone who never misses the chance to tell someone how much they mean to me. I want to be someone who is constantly praising God for His awesome works. I want to be someone who is expressing only love to those around me.

Realistically, I wont be this person all the time. I can only try to be that person. I will fail. But I want to try. I know at any time, everything Ive come to know and love and become comfortable with, can be taken from me. In this time, I have become so overwhelmed with a grateful spirit, humbled by how much I have been privileged with in life. I will try to stick with that.