Thanksgiving Thankfulness

I have been watching so many of my friends posting on their blogs all of the wonderful things they are thankful for. I am not consistent enough to blog every day to do that. So I will just do this one post to note all of the blessings that God has poured out on me. First of all, I am thankful for my heavenly Father who provided his son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for my sins so that I could have a relationship with Him for all eternity. Second, I am thankful for my three beautiful children. They are hard work, but they are blessings in their own, indivdual and priceless ways. Third, I am thankful for God's peace that passes all understanding. As I am currently struggling with my third, early pregnancy miscarriage, I praise God that He provides peace and joy to us in times of pain. And I will praise my God for He is sovereign in all of His ways and I will trust Him. Fourth, I am thankful for my amazing husband. I was not feeling well this morning and Josh got up with the kids so that I could rest. I could hear Josh all the way downstairs, making waffles and singing songs to the kids at the top of his lungs. I laid in my bed and I thanked God that He gave me the wisdom to marry that man. I am overjoyed that my children have a father who adores them, delights in them, provides for them, plays with them, nurtures them, and leads them in a way gives them an earthly taste of their heavenly Father. Fifth, I am thankful for friends. It never ceases to amaze me how God provides the most amazing women into my life at every stage and place. I have a sisterhood of women that have collected from high school, to college, to Tulsa, to Columbus, and now Michigan. Each group has been priceless and touched my soul in too many ways to count. I am incredibly thankful for family. I have the best parents who continue to support me into adulthood and help me to be the wife and mother I need to be. My parents gave me the greatest gift in life by teaching me about Jesus Christ and then allowing me to make that faith my own. They taught me by example about a relationship with Christ, marriage, parenthood, and so much more. I am blessed with a wonderful mother-in-law who makes helping me with the kids a priority. She gave me the gift of her son so that I could have the incredible husband and my kids can have the incredible father that they do. And I am so thankful for my brothers and sisters-in-law. It is because of these precious relationships that I seek to provide my kids with a similar experience in our family. I am thankful that I get to be a stay at home mom. I am able to kiss every boo boo and be there for every silly song and joke. I get to volunteer in the kids' classrooms and experience every milestone. My kids will always know that when they have a rough day at school, they only have to make it to our door and I will be there will listening ears and a hug (and maybe a plate of chocolate chip cookies, but probably not because I'm no June Cleaver afterall.) There are so many other things for which I am thankful that I could not possibly name them all. I just touched on the big ones. And I know that they are the same "big ones" that most moms have, but I still felt the need to say them out loud. =) Happy Thanksgiving!