For our next entry on this little blogging adventure I will re-post something I sent out before Thanksgiving last Fall.

On this Wednesday before our Thanksgiving Holiday, I am thankful for aches and pains which remind me how great it is to be mostly strong and healthy and give me compassion for those who truly suffer.

I am thankful to be able to pay taxes, for each time I do I am reminded that I have earnings and assets and the ability to pay.

I am thankful for high prices and bills to pay which help me know I actually can pay my own way in this world, unlike so many who cannot meet even their real and basic needs.

I am thankful for cold weather, especially when I stand around a warming fire with a great cup of coffee and know that I will be toasty warm and cozy tonight and every night, rather than cold and hungry.

I am grateful for the chaos and confusion of life and love and home and family, for because of these things I know what real peace is.

I am grateful for being overweight rather than hungry.

I'm grateful for sadness which helps me see the bright and moments as so much better.

I'm grateful for tears which make laughter seem sweeter and enable smiles to be even brighter.

I am thankful for losses which make memories more precious.

I am thankful for grief which reminds me how wonderful it is to love and be loved.

I'm grateful for education which humbles me and reminds me how little I really know.

I'm grateful for trips abroad which help me realize how really, really blessed we are in this country.

I am thrilled with work which leaves me tired and sore and helps me rest well and awake feeling refreshed.

I am thankful for all those who said "No" to me.  Because of them I am doing it myself.

I am thankful for all the difficult people in my life for they have shown me exactly who I do not want to be.

I am thankful for all the poor choices I have made because they have led me to where I am, and I cannot think of a better place to be.

Maybe most of all, I am thankful for grace, which looks beyond my faults and sees my possibilities, which frees me from myself, my mistakes, and my shame; which raises me up to help me see.