Thanksgiving...

... when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present--love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure--the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.--Sarah Ban Brethnach

There is no time like Thanksgiving to express our thankfulness and gratitude. With the day to day grind and this economy and gas prices and just the price in general of everything, it is sometimes very hard to feel grateful and thankful these days. When I am trying to come up with my five things that I am thankful for each day, sometimes it is definitely harder than others. But I always manage. And today I am just very thankful that God has blessed me with a thankful heart, as redundant as that may be. I am grateful that God has given me this ability to step back and appreciate the things that really matter in life - not necessarily on a daily basis, but on a consistent basis, at least.

Yes, I have bad days, but as long as I can come up with those five things that I am thankful for each day, then I am okay. While my life is far from perfect and there is one huge aspect that I am currently very unhappy with, the things that I am so thankful for this Thanksgiving week far outweigh the unhappiness.

Five things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving:

1.) My marriage. I've said it before and I'll say it again: my husband is my rock, my best friend, my world. My life would not be complete without his love. God has given me an angel to spend my life with. The photo in this blog is a picture of my sweet hubby and I!

2.) The unconditional love of my parents who have become two of my best friends as the years have gone by. They are always there for me and have been the best role models anyone could ever have.

3.) Good friends who are more like family than friends. Sometimes a girl just needs her girlfriends and no one else will do.

4.) That I can do all things through God who strengthens me. I am so thankful that I know the Lord who gives me the strength I need and who carries me through when I simply don't have the strength to do it myself. I need his strength a lot these days and I am thankful he gives it at the exact time when I think I can't take it anymore.

5.) To steal a line from a Martina McBride song, "This world's gone crazy, and it's hard to believe that tomorrow will be better than today. Believe it anyway. " I am so thankful that I really do believe that tomorrow will be better than today. And today was pretty good...