14/14

I made it! Yay!

Today... today I am thankful for my husband, Jesse!  It's a super special day today, because it's Thanksgiving AND it's his birthday. :-)

I'm thankful I've got him in my life.  I'm thankful for his laugh, his smile, his goofy comments, the funny things he does, his passion, his dedication, his hard work, the way he loves me... even when I've hurt him... his forgiveness, his gentleness, his dreams, his desires, his heart, his patience, his relationship with God, and how he strives to be a good, godly husband.  I'm thankful that he respects me, loves me, communicates with me, talks with me, and seeks so much counsel before making a decision.

I love my husband.

13/14

Today I am thankful for. . .

YouTube!

Last night I watched Francis the Talking Mule on YouTube for the first time since I was... what, 11?  I've been looking for it everywhere, but no one has it!  What's the deal with getting rid of old movies?

I missed my Francis.

YouTube allowed my to relieve my childhood.  I got to laugh a lot.

Jesse didn't laugh as much as I did though.

But the show is so funny!  Francis is so sarcastic and clever.

YouTube is awesome because it has EVERYTHING on it.

Thank you YouTube for giving Francis back to me!

12/14

Today I am thankful for water heaters.

I am remembering a time in India when there was no hot water and I attempted to take a shower... it was more like me hopping in and out of the cold water and deciding which parts of my body were the most dirty, because I didn't want to be in there anymore.

I love taking showers with hot water.  They're so relaxing and cozy. . . and those of you how know me, know that I'm all about being cozy.

I can get clean and not freeze to death, and I can get the blood flowing back through my cold body in the winter (yay!).

The sad thing is, when you're paying your own water bills you don't really want to indulge in this luxury very often...  Hahah. :D

But still, I'm thankful that I have the choice of taking a hot shower.  I'd rather have hot, running water than a heater any old day.

Speaking of which.  I wonder how much longer it will be until we finally give into the temptation of turning on our heat?

11/14

I'm thankful for people who are older than me, wiser than me, more experienced than me.

Sometimes it's just nice for someone to say, "It's okay, you made a mistake.  I've made mistakes too.  But you know what?  Life goes on.  You take a breath, you move forward, and you don't let your past control you... you just let it teach you, grow you, and mold you.  It's okay to be imperfect... nobody's perfect.  You don't need to try so hard to be someone you aren't to do something that's impossible.  And I've come out of trials and mistakes a stronger and more beautiful person than I was before."

I like to hear that it's okay that I don't have it all together... and I like hearing the mistakes of others so that maybe, just maybe I don't have to make the same mistakes as them... that their mistakes and moments of pain can maybe, just maybe, keep a few other people, like myself, from having to work through a few days, weeks, months, or weeks of pain and insecurity.

I am so thankful for those willing to admit who they were, where they come from, the mistakes they've made, and who that's made them today.

10/14

I'm thankful for refrigerators/freezers!

Seriously.  Refrigerators and freezers make life so much easier and much more practical.

They make my ingredients last longer, they store and preserve yummy vegetables, they keep the ice cream frozen, the cool down our water, they allow me to keep leftovers rather than just being wasteful and having to throw things out (or overeating!).  They also make it easier for me to budget and be a better steward... because I can buy stuff in bulk and on sale and keep it until I need it.

I especially realize how wonderful they are when the power goes out (which hasn't been an experience in my married life, yet) and all the food starts to thaw, rot, and spoil.

Yay for refrigerators!

9/14

I am thankful for my parents.

They put up with a lot, suffered a lot, but continued to love me and instruct me despite my attitude.

Sure, they made lots of mistakes (not as many as I have, I'm sure).  But I'm still so thankful they didn't give up and me despite how emotionally and physically tired I have made them in the past.  I'm so thankful they raised me and allowed me to be who God made me.

I'm also thankful for their experience, wisdom, and generosity.  They're great role models and super fun people to be around... they're so hospitable.  Every kid in the neighborhood back home knows they're welcome over any time.  Every adult out there knows they can talk to my mom and dad and not only get great advice, but not to be afraid of any gossip or rumors.

I hope I've picked up some of their awesome traits.

8/14

I am sooooo thankful for a cozy bed and personal space heater.

Right now I am sleepy, exhausted, and sore.

A cozy bed sounds wonderful, inviting, and comforting.

I'm thankful for a warm room and a safe place to rest my body.

7/14

I'm thankful for shoes.

I love shoes.  They're so fun and cute and the potential to make or break an outfit.

I'm especially glad for shoes when it's cold outside, because they keep my feet warm.

Oh, and when it's blistering hot outside, so my feet don't burn on the pavement.

Or when I'm stepping in rocks or littered areas, so I don't cut my feet.

Or when I'm in a contaminated area so that I don't get infections or parasites, such as elephantiasis.

Seriously.  I am so blessed and so thankful to have multiple pairs of shoes to protect my feet, especially when I become aware that millions of kids around the world don't have shoes and sometimes don't even have clothes (especially not warm ones).

This is also why I love Toms... because they're working to give each kid a pair of shoes.  Next time I buy a pair of shoes, it's gonna be Toms because I want someone else to share in the blessings I have.

6/14

I am thankful for art/creative expression.

I'm not much of an "artist" myself, but I am totally mesmerized by the things people can create with their hands; drawings, charcoals, acrylics, watercolors, anime, oil paintings, metal sculptures, pottery/ceramics, clothing, blankets, calligraphy, wall hangings, statues, ornaments, glassware, jewelry, graphics, movies, etc.

I think it's fantastic, the resources we have to use our talent to express ourselves, our beliefs, our emotions, our stage in life.  Art has such power.

I also think art goes past what I mentioned above, into the fields of music, photography, and writing, and probably more things I'm missing.  I attempt to use photography and writing to express myself.  I try to paint pictures with words.

Clothing are especially awesome, because people have their own unique style that says something special about them.  Clothing style is definitely an artistic way of expressing yourself and your individuality.

 So yes.  I'm totally a thankful for this!

5/14

I just got back from the Asian market.  I was buying some ingredients for dinner tonight that I couldn't find anywhere else in town.

It made me think about something else I'm thankful for. . .

Culture!  Not my culture, not the American culture, and not Texan culture (in fact, these are my least favorite cultures), just culture in general.

I really appreciate how different people from varying geographical areas look, physically, how they each have their own unique style of dress, sometimes their own language, their own cuisine, their own traditions, their own humor, their own style of art, their own smells. . . I could go on and on, but I just love culture!

I also love how it varies in different regions of a country too.  It's phenomenal.  There's so much variety in the world... no two people groups are alike, just as no two people are alike.  Even with in the different regions, each family sometimes has slightly different traditions.  Wow wow wow.

Sometimes too, when you get a look at someone else's culture, it causes you to be more thankful (and less complaining) for your own culture and gifts.  On the other hand, being exposed to these things can also cause you to apply new traditions, beliefs, etc., to your own life/culture in order to grow and change in unique ways and be a better and more loving person.

So in that sense, the more globalized the world becomes, the more the cultures might change, which means you've got more to keep up with!

Someday I'd like to experience some of these cultures first hand.  It's one of my goals in life.

So yes.  I thankful for cultures and their awesome variety.

4/14

I'm thankful for language and books.

Language is so cool, how we get to communicate through different pitches from our throats and control how they come out with our mouths/lips/tongues.  And how somebody transferred those sounds into somewhat organized, logical characters/marks on paper.

I think it's stupendous.

I love being able to communicate with people and trying to grasp what they're feeling and experiencing.

I love that God can communicate to us through language and gave us a book to learn through.

I love that people can document their work/research/creativity on paper now and make it easily accessible to the public... so we all don't have to travel around to listen to orators.

Books provide such a wealth of information for understand and loving people and also understanding and loving God better.

I'm so thankful for this!

3/14

I'm thankful for my family, my spiritual family.

I just think it's totally cool that I can go anywhere in the world and be welcomed in, loved, and greeted by brothers and sisters.  We don't always share opinions, have the same lifestyle, look the same, or speak the same language, but we all share an awesome testimony of God's love.

I love it.

I'm never far from home.

2/14

I'm thankful for food.  I love food.  Not just "food"... but all the creative different ways you can use it, all the things you can make with it, and the satisfying feeling you get after you eat it (most of the time).  And that you can make so many different things with the same basic ingredients.  And that every country has its own unique and personal taste/style of cooking that express the people.

Yeah.

Food is so cool.

1/14

Day one of fourteen days of thankfulness.

Thanks, Grace, for posting about this.  I think it's going to be a good exercise.

- - - - - - - - -

A two bedroom duplex.

Seriously.  God knew we needed it.  We intended to get a one bedroom because we thought we wouldn't need the extra bedroom and that it would just be wasted space and money.  Jesse and I were somewhat disappointed when we found out that all the one bedrooms were taken and there was only a two bedroom left.

However, we've been able to use it much more than we anticipated to be "hospitable."

36/100 days of living in Arkansas (36/111 days of marriage) we've had somebody with us, two of those days overlapping with guests' visits.

I am thankful for this.