Day 2

Today I got up to get my children ready for school, loaded up all 5 children and headed out. I dropped Elijah and Abi off then ran errands for a couple of hours. Came home. Going to give a piano lesson at any time then I'm going to load the twins and Lydia back into the van to go pick up Elijah, drive back home, and then do it all again to go pick up Abigail at 3. This is a typical day. Its busy. Its crazy. Its also frustrating at times.

But today I'm thankful for my vehicle.

We've been married for 10 years and for almost half of those years we had only one vehicle. That's hard. It was especially horrid when Abigail started school and I was forced to depend on others to get her back and forth to school every day. But that is a whole other story.

I'm grateful to be able to take my children to school and pick them up every day. I'm grateful that I'm able to lug all the kiddos to the post office or Walmart when needed. I'm grateful to be able to run Abi's lunch to the school if she has accidentally forgotten it in the van or at home. I'm grateful that I'm ABLE to do all these things because of the vehicle the Lord gave to us.

And on those days that the "crazy" and "busy" gets overwhelming, I remember what it was like to sit at home in frustration, unable to do all those "things" for myself and my family.

Day 1 of My Year of Thankfulness

Many people on my facebook page have been posting daily this month a note of thankfulness. It has inspired me to try a challenge . . . a daily journal of thankfulness for 365 continuous days, starting today.

I have to start my journey by thanking God for his hand of protection and guidance even when I wasn't seeking him or desiring to serve him. There was a time in my life when the last thing I wanted was God. I was engaging in destructive, potentially dangerous behavior. Yet, through all of it, God protected me from myself. I don't know why. I could have had children out of wedlock. I could have been an alcoholic. I could have alienated myself from my entire family and been stranded in a distant state, abandoned by a man, deceived by empty promises. But, none of those things are a part of my life.

God knew he was going to bring a rebellious, self willed Baptist girl from a tiny town in Southern Ohio to a Nazarene college 350 miles from home so that she could get into a good Baptist church and change her life. He loved me when I didn't love or want him and protected me from myself to work a greater purpose in my life.

Today, for this I am thankful.