This will be the first time I have used this blog to post something personal and NOT related to the babies in Romania but I am too lazy to create another blog and too mentally exhausted to think of a cutesy title and layout.
My dear friend Tami has been doing a Thanks a Day blog during the month of November and I decided I wanted to join in. Today has been a rough day but even on our roughest days we need to count our blessings... so here I go...
Blessing #1: I am thankful that I was raised by Christian parents and became a Christian at the dear old age of 9. Without God I would be so lost... I cannot even begin to imagine where my life would be without him. I am a firm believer that Jesus died on the cross for you and for me and even though I prove myself unworthy of His love every day He still loves me and walks with me...waiting for me to get back on the right path.
Blessing #2: I am most thankful for my wonderful, fabulous, creative, funny, pookie daughter Emily. She is my greatest gift from God. I am so not worthy to be her mother!
Blessing #3: I am thankful that my family has always been there for me. Even though I know I have disappointed them many, many times they still love me and will always love me.
Blessing #4: I am thankful for my dear friends. I am a HORRIBLE friend... I constantly forget things and am inconsiderate but for some reason my friends are still hanging in there!
Blessing #5: I am so thankful that I was able to go to Romania and rock babies. I met so many wonderful people... it truly allowed me to see the human race in a better light! Even though as I re-read the last entry on my blog (before I started posting tonight) about dear sweet Ema-Elena dying I was terribly sad... I also know I was so blessed to have known her. She made me a better person in the 8 weeks I spent with her. I can only hope and pray that she felt the love I had for her and was comforted by it.
Blessing #6: I am thankful that I was born in America. Way too often I have taken my freedoms and liberties as an American for granted!
Blessing #7: I am thankful for our Armed Forces and Veterans who have protected those freedoms that most Americans (myself definitely included) take for granted.
Blessing #8: I am thankful for my jobs... all 4 of them! Even though I am tired and grouchy and feel like I have no time for myself I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to earn extra money when so many are unable to find work. (For those of you who are wondering what those jobs are -- I am a 1st/2nd grade multi-age teacher, after school I teach a homebound student 2 days a week, I also greet guests at a local dinner theater 3-4 days a week after school, then I also sell Thirty One products.) Nine per cent of the labor force is currently unemployed.
Blessing #9: Even though I have only been blessed with one child of my blood, I am so thankful for the 30+ that are a part of my life from year to year. Being able to teach multi-age and have the same students for 2 years I have grown to love my students more than I could ever explain. I feel as responsible for them as I do for Emily... they truly feel like family.
Blessing #10: I am thankful for the roof over my head.. even though it contains 2 smelly dogs and 2 crazy cats -- or vice versa! Once again too many of us take things for granted... having a warm place to come home to is a luxury even though many of us feel that it is a right! (About 1.6 million people were homeless in emergency shelters or transitional housing at some point during the year between October 1, 2007 and September 30, 2008.)
Blessing #11: I am thankful for the ability to read. My first 3 years of formal education I had teachers that are still touted as being the best in our area -- in Kindergarten my teacher was Mrs. Helen Rawlings, in first grade my teacher was Mrs. Reba Hood, and in second grade my teacher was Mrs. Betty Lewelling. Those teachers (along with my parents) instilled in me a desire to learn... and a desire to read. Reading is my favorite past time. I love having the ability to lose myself in a book! While the literacy rate in America is high too many people are ALITERATE!!! Aliterate as defined by Webster's is "the quality or state of being able to read but uninterested in doing so". As Emily would say, "SAD FACE!"
Blessing #12: I am thankful for my church's new pastor. Pastor Denny Ford is a man of God.. he isn't afraid to let you know that God will be the one leading him, not the people of the church. In the short time he has been at our church he has already taught me so much! I am so happy that Emily is going to have memories of his influence as she makes important decisions about her future.
Blessing #13: I am thankful my daughter is more musically gifted than I am! As I am typing Emily is in her bedroom playing her trumpet.. she has grown so much musically in the past year! I am loving every moment of watching her grow in a new and different way. She is also becoming quite the clogger. I never would have thought she would like clogging... but once she had her first lesson she was hooked! Clogging is a part of Em's family history (the dance originated in Europe but was prevalent here in the Appalachian mountains). My grandfather's family lived in the area known as the Sugarlands which is now located in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, when Papaw Sam was a boy they were forced to move off their land in order for the GSMNP to be established -- that heritage is extremely important to Emily and to me!
Blessing #14: I am so thankful that my friend Tami decided to share her daily thanks and inspired me to do so... even though I started way behind I hope to be able to post daily for the rest of the month.
