Truly thankful...

In America, this is the week we celebrate Thanksgiving and it always makes me reflect on the blessings in MY life.  Above you will see 27 of the 36 biggest blessings that are mine.  What a wonderful thing a family is...these people have unconditional love for me and for each other and what a great blessing that is for me, being 10,000 miles [16,000 KM] away from them for two years.

My friend Kathy has a blog that I follow and this past week she has been posting daily on the blessings in her life.  I loved that idea but not having her technology [IPhone] and with our current responsibilities and such, that would be unmanageable for me so pondered and decided to use her example for my weekly visit with you all.

I try to walk most mornings and as I do, I usually talk to my Father in Heaven, getting His input on my day, my problems, my assignments, etc.  This morning as I walked, I was just SO thankful for the wonderful experiences we are having, the fantastic and beautiful people of the Philippines, etc. and thought I would just share with YOU my blessing list:

     *First and foremost I am grateful for my family.  They have stuck with this crazy mom/Meemaw through many difficult trials and they all still seem to love me!  That love sustains me here where I have NO family to hug, snuggle, sniff, and hold.
      *My membership in the church and the knowledge I have of it's truthfulness.
      *My Father in Heaven and His son Jesus Christ who died for me that when I mess up, [and I do often] I can be forgiven and continue to grow and learn.
      *I am grateful for my parents.  I had a good mom who loved me and tried her best to teach me the things she felt were important for my life.  From her I learned forgiveness, how to laugh, what was important in my world around me, how to notice the little things in life, how to play and love cards, how competition is a good thing, how winning is also a good thing and losing is not the end of the world, the value of education, that being a mom was going to be the best thing in my life and probably the most important thing she taught me was how to be a good grandma.  She was the BEST grandma I have ever known.  From my father I learned the value of hard work, charity, generosity, service to his fellowmen how to sense people's needs and moods, how to fish [but I refused to clean them!] and a true love of the outdoors.  He also taught me the importance of family stories.
     *for Randy's parents who raised him to be the man he is, thoughtful, forgiving, spiritual, loving, family oriented, loyal, talented, always finding the good in people, thrifty, compassionate, responsible, dependable, and I could go ON and ON...after all, I have loved this man more than breath for over 45 years!!!
     *music-I love music and until about 15 years ago, my voice was my identity.  I sang from the time I was a little child and loved to perform.  I truly miss my singing voice.  I am also grateful my mom sacrificed to give me the gift of music.  She scrimped and saved so that I could have a piano and lessons.  I am now using that skill here to bless the lives of others as I open that opportunity for them when I teach.
     *clean water
     *hot showers
     *nutritious and delicious food
     *my education
     *flowers
     *indoor plumbing
     *paved roads
     *carpeting
     *electricity
     *grass
     *to live in a free country where we don't need gates and walls to keep us safe.
     *great friends who love me unconditionally even when they know my weaknesses
     *fresh ice and cold water to drink
     *my health...probably should be higher on this list
     *my testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ...also higher on the list
     *my hearing, taste, touch, good vision and my sense of smell
     *my sense of humor
     *the skills and talents the Lord has blessed me with, specifically my ability to work with my hands and my 'out of the box' ability to problem solve and be creative
     *good teeth
     *strong body that has taken me many miles in it's life
     *my ability to forgive others and love them in spite of their shortcomings
     *my two amazing grandmothers that each helped mold me to be the person I am today
     *aunts and uncles, cousins and other relatives who make me laugh
     *my brother and his family...
     *a bed to sleep in and the ability I have to sleep well and sound most nights
     *my ability to sign and communicate with the deaf
     *these amazingly wonderful Filipino people that our loving Father in Heaven has allowed us to rub shoulders with for the next two years and their patience with these silly Americans...US!!
     *the wonderful full-time missionaries we have had the privilege to work with here in the Philippines.
   

Our crazy, nutty group!!

I am sure there are things I will think of as I close this post but first and foremost, I stopped this week to think of the blessings in my life and to thank the One who loved me enough to give them to me.  Have you???