Gratefulness and Gratitude

In order to offset the complaint blog of yesterday, I thought today I would focus on some of the blessings in my life and other things I am grateful for. Once again, this could be a lengthy post so I am going to try my best to just focus on a few things.

Let’s begin with something that has shaped who I am today: my family. I have a younger sister and brother. Both my siblings have been married for over ten years and they each have two kids—my sister has two girls and my brother has a boy and a girl. I love being an aunt and because I live so far away (I’m in Tennessee, my sister is in Washington and my brother is in Idaho) it is a treat when I get to see the kids.

My brother and sister and I had some knock-down, drag-out fights when we were younger. I remember busting the glass of a backdoor window with my brother’s head once. We would get in some big trouble for our fights. But, now that we are all out on our own, I think we’ve come to appreciate the rewards of having siblings. I think my sister and I are closer than we ever were when we were younger. We were only nineteen months apart so there was a lot of competitiveness when we were growing up (I was the one who did very well in school, my sister was the one who was popular).

Mom and Dad have also been a huge blessing in my life. I am so lucky to have parents who are still married after 38 years and who are still the best of friends. My parents have shown all of us kids what it takes to make a marriage work and I couldn’t have asked for better role models in that area. Again, life wasn’t all kittens and roses growing up, my parents were young when they got married and I think that affected how they raised us. I haven’t always agreed with how my Mom & Dad handled certain things but I appreciate that they loved us enough to put in the effort.

I’m also thankful for good friends. This past February, I took a vacation to not only visit family but to also visit some of my friends from college. Now, it has been twelve years since I the University of Idaho and it has been months (and even longer in some cases) since I have sat down and talked to some of my best friends from that time in my life.  I love that even though we may not have talking in months, when we get together, we are still comfortable enough with each other to share the things on our hearts and minds.

In addition to all of these things, I am also grateful for a church that preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ and isn’t afraid to look at the hard things. I am grateful for a good job. Sure, there are days when I hate my job but, overall, I am blessed to be here. And I am grateful for my health. Over the past couple of years I have had several friends and co-workers have some serious health issues which just brings to light how lucky I am to be in fairly good health.