Recipe for thankfulness...

I enjoy cooking. I love taking recipes, and tweaking them, changing ingredients out for things I prefer or have on hand. This week, I feel like God's given me a recipe for thankfulness. Only in this recipe, there's no premeasurements, no specific ingredients. He's made me stop to appreciate the blessings in my own life.

So here's my recipe for thankfulness.

The health of Grandpa Dean makes me appreciate the importance of family. It calls to mind those Christmastimes, birthday, and general celebrations at the house with that unforgettable soft red carpeting. Adults gathered around the dining room table near the front door, which most days sat unused. During these gatherings, however, several leaves were added, and we'd work together to prepare the tables, the buffet line, the drinks. We'd sing our family's version of grace, and we'd head through the line. People moving everywhere, on both floors, in every room, talking about sports, school, music, politics, current events, and family life. These memories wash me in warmth, radiating outward directly from my heart.

Thank you God for a family who cares deeply for each other, and who come together to celebrate and to mourn. Bless our family, and give them strength and peace over the coming weeks and years.

My visit the the emergency room yesterday helps me remember that God wants us to cry out to Him in times of need. He didn't intend us to exist alone, and as needed, will allow us to go through tough times to remind us of this fact. I had to step out of my comfort zone and ask peoeple around me for their assistanec. Later, as my physical pain increased, God placed people around me to comfort me, to remind me I am not alone. He's there, looking out for us, ministering to us, loving us regardless of circumstances. Even after the pain subsided, God continued to show me how many people he's placed in my life, helping me to know that even when life gets in the way of contact, when it's needed, His people are still there.

Thank you God for friends who support and love me and my family. Help me to minister to them, Help me to support those who've already come to You, and guide me in ways so that each one may find and love you.

I visited the library this week, and spotted a book on a topic which has been weighing heavily on my heart for a long time. Reading the book helped me to realize again that I'm not alone, especially in this particular struggle, and that it takes time, understanding, and compromise to solve.

Thank you God for providing this resource, and helping my heart to be ready to receive the insight it contained. Help me to have the courage to share this knowledge with others searching for it.

Thank you for my Sohl-mate, and for his loving and caring personality. Thank you for my loving, healthy, inquisitive children. Help me to be the wife and mother You want me to be for them, and guide my choices and decisions to allow eaach to grow in their walks with You.