Thankful

I got inspired today by a couple of blogs that I read to post one thing I am thankful for each day of the month of November (for Thanksgiving--for those of you who are slow like me. Seriously, reading the THIRD blog about thankfulness I was like, "What's this about?" Only THEN did I get the holiday tie-in. Awesome.) I know most of you come here to see pics of Sarah, or the occasional interesting tidbit about life overseas, but just as the posts I read today about what OTHER people are thankful for, made me think about what I am thankful for, I hope reading this will do the same. Hopefully, I will do one of the posts about once a week during the month of November. That's the plan, anyway. Since it is November 5 (where I am, anyway), here are five things I am thankful for today:

1) My life. OK, I know that is kind of vague, but I am almost done with "A Thousand Splendid Suns," and anyone who has read that novel, which is kind of historical fiction set in the last 40 years or so in Afghanistan, knows that pretty much every kind of tragedy that can happen happens to the two women who are the main characters. Even though it is fiction, I know the events are based on the reality of the kind of suffering that happens in people's lives in many countries around the world every day. So even though my life is far from perfect, I can see the hand of a Sovereign Father protecting me in so many ways, allowing only as much difficulty so that I can't go on being little miss independent, but I have to rely on him. And even in the midst of the challenges I face, I see so many ways he is leading, guiding, protecting, working. So I guess what I am really thankful for is . . .

2) Having a God who knows me and is working all things together for my good.

3) Losing 19 pounds over the course of this year, so far. Post-Sarah, my body held onto about 10 pounds for an entire year while I was nursing and after I stopped nursing (even though I started exercising). Two really good friends encouraged me to look at Weight Watchers, and it has been a tremendous blessing. I feel like it has not only helped me lose weight (something I had wanted to do for several years, even before Sarah, but never had any success at when I tried), but its also really taught me how to eat and live in a healthier way! For the first time in about four years, I am not technically "overweight"!!! I am so thankful to the Lord for bringing Weight Watchers into my life at just the right time and blessing me with success.

4) My Family. Yeah, cliche I know, but seriously I am so blessed! God has blessed David and I with such an enjoyable, fun marriage and companionship. This blog is basically 90% about how awesome I think Sarah is, so I don't even need to start on that topic. I love them and I am so so so thankful for them! Our extended families are full of people who support us, love us, and encourage us even though we live a gajillion miles from them. So thankful!

5) Unknowns about the future. These things bring me both anxiety and excitement about the future, but both those things are good in their own way. The anxiety is teaching me to trust in the Lord, and the excitement is just a blessing from him. I think he knows he created me with a bit of a need for adventure in my blood, so even though sometimes I am tempted to complain that the future contains SO MANY big unknowns, when I think about it, I see that they are good for me.

OK, soooo . . . those all turned out to be more serious than I'd anticipated. Hmm. Didn't mean to overwhelm anyone! But, I guess I had to get the "big stuff" out of the way. Still, this is such a good exercise. I encourage all of you to think about what you are thankful for and why. Have a great day!!