Attitude of Gratitude

I have NOT counted my blessings this wondrous Thanksgiving season.  That is an error I intend to correct IMMEDIATELY!  So listed below are my blessings in order of priority.  I would LOVE it if some readers would share THEIR favorite blessings.  They can be sublimes or ridiculous...it's just delightful to hear what others hold dear.

I can't separate faith and family....to me they are one and the same.  That is not to say that all those I love as family agree with my religion.  They DO agree with my desire to worship God in the way that I see fit.

I also can't separate friends and family.  I am blessed indeed to have friends that are family and family that are friends.  I have a HUGE family!  I have over 70 first cousins.  I only have one brother, and one sister, but they both wisely married terrific people that I'm glad to count as a brother and sister as well.

I'm also EXTREMELY grateful for my husband's brothers and their wives.  They have supported Nyle and I literally and figuratively through some incredibly difficult times in our lives.

I must say that I'm grateful FOREVER for my faith that Nyle still lives!  He HAS lost a lot of weight...now that he's invisible to my mortal eyes.  Yet I feel his presence oh so often.  I KNOW that he still loves the girls and loves me.  This knowledge gives me hope to keep living the best that I can.

I'm so grateful for two amazing daughters.  Our girls bless my life each and everyday.  They treat me as a valued friend not a burden to put up with.  Their examples constantly inspire me to live better, BE better!

I'm also so very grateful for the many "part-time" children that we have gathered over the years.  Amanda, Chris, Christine, Colby, Teralyn, Andrew, Erin Jane, oh so many that have enriched my life, and still do!

As Thanksgiving transitions into the Christmas Season I wish to express my sincere thanks for my belief in Jesus Christ.  I have had the privilege of knowing about him, and serving him to the best of my ability in this life.  It makes very little rational sense to believe in a being that being half God lived on the earth, taught, loved, and then died an unjust death, to rise again from the grave three days later.  Yet that is the very belief that I hold close to my heart.

Many would call Jesus Christ a "mythological" creature.  I'm grateful for my faith in Christ, and my experiences of his love.

Now to end this post I will segue from the sublime to the ridiculous...I'm grateful for chocolate!  Chocolate fills an empty spot in my soul right now that Nyle used to fill.  I'm certain that he would laugh if he thought that I was replacing him with chocolate.  He's IMPOSSIBLE to replace, but chocolate makes me smile for a little while!  I agree with the book title that says, "Hand Over The Chocolate and No One Gets Hurt!"  I could not eat chocolate the first 15 years of my life due to severe allergies.  Seriously the best thing that puberty did for me was to let me grow out of that allergy!!!  Ahhhhh.....the soothing properties of chocolate.

So...please tell me the things that provide your heart with gratitude.  If you have the time be specific and elucidate.  I would LOVE to hear from you!