Thankful For!

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Oh my goodness I am still in shock that Thanksgiving is this week... of course today it feels like January.

Anyway today in church we were talking about being Thankful and my pastor quoted the passage...
"give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."- 1 Thessalonians 5:18. 

Then he encouraged us to make us while we are going throughout our days to make a list of things we are Thankful for, so here some things on my list.

Thankful for being an aunt...
it is my favorite role

1. I am thankful God is in control... Most of my life I have always tried to live by a plan, for example in college I knew I was going to take a year off and then go to Grad-school, well a year turned to a year in half (because of personal circumstances) and for awhile I felt I was behind in my plan. Now I am preparing to graduate in May (hopefully) and I have no idea what I want to do with my life... you would think it would be Library Science, but I don't know, I have a lot of passions and I want to do a lot of things so I am not forsure. The awesome thing is I am not in control, He is and He has a perfect will for me. So I am praying God to guide me in my future.

Song: Your love is strong

By: Jon Foreman 

2. I am thankful for God's love... I am single, and sometimes I wish so hard I was in a relationship with "the one" and that I would be looking forward to my wedding day, and sometimes it hurts to be single and feel alone. But God's love is bigger than my singleness and He is giving me this time to really be nurtured in Him and learn how cherished I am to Him.

3. I am thankful for my singleness... as much as I want to be a wife and mother I am thankful for my singleness because I am still uncertain what God has in store for me and being single I can be more open to His desires and callings.

Thankful for my friends who have become a second family 

4. I am thankful for all the support and love I have been given, rather it comes from parents, my sibling, my friends (who are my second family) I am never at a loss for support and love.

Darcy and I snuggling last year during Nemo

5. I am thankful for the hope I have in God. I don't know how everything is  going to work out but I continue to put my hope in God and He continues to see me through even when I feel things are falling apart.

6. On these cold days I am thankful for my apartment, my cat who snuggles on me, and hot tea.

The next thing my pastor encouraged us to do is to "Fix your eyes on the truth." I know for me it is easy to wish my life was different and be discouraged that its not the way I want... but for us to be truly thankful we have to be thankful for what we have instead of wanting something more. What we choose to focus on can make all the difference.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer, and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."- Philippians 4:6-7

I wrote a post last March very similar to this and I shared this collage...

I'm thankful for the people in these pictures.