Thankful . . .

So this is a little late. I intended to do this post for Thanksgiving. Oh well! Better late than never. Here's what I'm thankful for:

1) A loving, faithful God who chose to save me from what I truly deserve & blesses me with this wonderful life I live

2) My loving, faithful, hard-working, fun-loving husband that the Lord provided for me

3) My 4 beautiful, energetic, smart, & affectionate children that the Lord has entrusted to me

4) My parents & Tim's parents who are not only wonderful parents to us, but awesome grandparents to our kids

4) The rest of our friends & family we're blessed to have

5) The warm, lovely home the Lord has provided us

6) The Christ-centered school our children get to attend

7) The Christ-centered, mission-driven church we get to be involved in

8) The jobs we've been blessed to have, & keep

9) The Lord's provision of everything we need & SO much that we simply want

10) Our health & protection from so many illnesses & disease

And that's just the top 10. I could go on and on. I could list the many attributes of the God I try to serve. I could list all of the important relationships in my life. I have so much to be thankful for, sometimes it's overwhelming. But this has become part of my strategy for combating the "poor me" syndrome that I sometimes find myself in. I begin to list all of the "things" for which I'm grateful. It's hard to be discouraged & upset when I truly look at how blessed I am. It's great for perspective. It doesn't mean that there aren't days that are really tough, because there are. But taking a look at all I have to be great for is helpful in reminding me that I serve a God who is faithful. He knows what I need so much better than I do. So today I choose to be thankful & to focus on Him.

Here's a preview of a "post to come". This just gives a glimpse into our efforts to have a 2009 family photo! :)

I love this picture. The whole thing is great, but I can't bring myself to hang it on the wall. My youngest was looking in the clouds, apparently!

More to come from this photo shoot next time! :)