The List

As I'm sitting here waiting for the last few "pieces" of dinner to finish cooking, I've been thinking about what I'm thankful for. It reminds me how blessed I truly am. I was going to journal my list as a prayer of Thanksgiving, but decided to share it with all of you as well. Some are cheesy "classic" things everyone is thankful for but some are not. All of which are close to my heart.
So, with that, I give you my list:

I'm thankful for...

• friends who not only love me exactly where I am at, but love me enough to call me out on my crap.
  
• a loving family. Even when it's hard to not be able to see all of them over the holidays due to the many miles between us, I know they are always there, loving me and understanding the sometimes strange things that have become traditions or jokes of past holidays.
• an amazing team that I get to work with everyday. For the balance they have between being in the world and of the world. For the tasks we are privileged to accomplish everyday and the fun we have in doing so.
• my grandma. There have been a couple of close calls to losing her over the last year and half, and I'm so thankful she is alive and healthy and still making memories with us everyday.
• how far I have come. I've been doing some "looking back" lately and am startled by how God has completely transformed my life and realigned it back to him.
  
• GCC - the place that gave me hope, allowed me to question and doubt, and built the trust that helped me to let God in again.
• the troops that are away from their families over the holidays so that our country can be a safer place.
  
• little surprises that bring so much joy.
• having the freedom to say and believe what I want without the fear of persecution or death.
• those people in my life that when I am struggling, they are there holding me up.
• all the encouragement that has driven my journey to become healthier and lose weight - for the people who knew how badly I wanted to change, and then pushed me to always do more.
• my parents, who I have never had to doubt their love.
• loved ones who have served in Iraq, their safe homecoming, and the faith that if/when they get sent out again, that God will once again protect them.
• the technology that allows me to be more connected to my family and friends.
• my life experiences - those times when you can't fathom that anything good could ever come of your pain, but then God redeems in ways you could never even imagine.
  
• the connections and friendships that grow out of those past life experiences.
• the leadership of GCC - the ones who I get to watch and learn from. How to lead well, how to love your spouse, how to love and support your children and most importantly how to be fully devoted to God in all you do.
  

Glimpses of God

It's all too easy to forget that God doesn't always show up in "big" ways - most of the time he shows up in little glimpses through the people around me. On my drive home tonight I started to think of the glimpses of God I've seen in the past week - and then sat in awe of how many I could list...

• A random phone call from a friend.
• A voicemail from a friend who said exactly what I needed to hear, even though she didn't even realize why she was making the call.
• A childhood tradition I hold dear to my heart continuing for another year.
• A surprise visit at work from someone who I hadn't seen in almost a year.
• A bottle of my favorite creamer left on my desk with a post-it note of kind words.
• A child cuddling up against you.
• Finding my car cleaned off, by someone who knows how much I dislike that part of winter.
  
• The pure joy of a child.
• Words of guidance, speaking directly into your life in a room full of people.
• A song with the exact words I needed to hear, but didn't want to
• Three friends not answering your call when I needed to talk, forcing me to have a conversation with God instead
• A topic of a simple conversation, convicting me.
• Realizing a friend gets where you are coming from, having been there themselves.
• Discovering my fears are not just mine, but shared with others as well.
  

If Today Was Your Last Day

I discovered this song by Nickelback today - it speaks to exactly to what I've been processing lately: would I live my life differently if today was my last day...and if I would, why I am not doing so now...

Letter

Dear guy at the gym who works out in silk boxer shorts,

Please stop.

Sincerely,
Everyone around you

Amazing Ad

Just saw this ad on tv - it was created for Veteran's Day. Thanks Boeing for doing this.

Fear.

Everyone has a few things they struggle with - one of mine is a certain fear. Not one I'm going to go into detail on (at least not today) but one that has recently cropped up again.

In cleaning out massive amounts of "sent" emails today, I found an email I wrote last year on the topic of fear. I would say it's ironic that I found it now, when I needed to be reminded the most - but I now it's not ironic - it's God trying to remind me of what I already know.


Excerpt from email:
Recently Mark Batterson came to speak at a New Community - he wrote the book In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day - a book all about facing your fears, being offensive in dealing with them, chasing a "lion" like Benaiah did, instead of running away. I was reading over my notes tonight and some of his book again, and something he said really stuck out at me. He said Satan often tries to put us on the defensive by using guilt and fear. And we often run away instead of fighting. And it a lot of times has become a conditioned reflex for us. We become formed by the things we are afraid of.

Quick Random Thoughts

I'm tired.

I should just go to bed.

But I decided I needed to blog first. So I give you...random thoughts.

• I'm too anal to rake leaves. I want the ground to be leaf-free - unfortunately the wind does not agree. It bothers me.
• I've been in a cleaning/organizing mode lately. It's strange. I find myself wanting to be home more so I can get more done.
• In cleaning stuff out, I discovered a birthday card from the first person who befriended me at GCC. She passed away 2 1/2 years ago. I'm glad I kept that card.
• It's November already. I'm seeing Christmas decorations and hearing Christmas music. I'm not ready for that.
• I love earrings - they are fun and cute. But they are not practical in the winter. Freezes one's earlobes.
• It's been 14 months (to the day) since I decided to switch to morning workouts. I thought it would be temporary. Then someone challenged me to do it for three weeks. And now I'm grateful for it. I wouldn't give up my morning workouts for the world. AND I am not a morning person.
  

24

I love the show "24" - so this makes me happy :)

'24' Premiere Goes Four Hours Variety
Fox will premiere its season of '24' with two two-hour episodes on Jan. 11 and Jan. 12 before returning to regular programming the following week, Daily Variety reports. The network on Nov. 23 will air the two-hour "24: Redemption," which will bring viewers current after the writers strike-preempted season six, which ended a year and a half ago, the newspaper says.

My Thoughts

I don't often talk politics, and I never blog about anything political. But this time I am...


It seems like during this election process, everyone is looking for a savior. Someone to swoop in and save us all from all the problems in the world - included those that we have self-inflicted. But at some point we have to take responsibility for our own actions and choices. We can't expect the government to fix all our problems. The President of the United States of America is not a savior. And will never be our savior. We already have one. The President is our chosen leader. But not our savior.

The government will never be able to fix all the problems and help all the hurting people. WE are the ones who are called to help those in need. WE'RE supposed to be the change in the world. WE have a job to do. And until we realize that, nothing's going to change.