I'm thankful for the blood in my veins and the strength of my heart in my chest.
I'm thankful for warmth of sun on my skin when I take the time to stop and enjoy it.
I'm thankful for the times I've been able to fall asleep to the sound of ocean waves.
I'm thankful for my mom and dad, who have loved me in spite of everything and who will love me no matter what.
I'm thankful a boyfriend who makes me feel more precious than gold.
I'm thankful for a brother who makes me laugh so hard I cry and who comforts me when I'm down.
I'm thankful for tea on a rainy day.
I'm thankful for the shining light of Christmas through the dreariness of winter.
I'm thankful for my grandparents and aunts and uncles and the laughter we've shared.
I'm thankful for friends whose doors and arms are always open.
I'm thankful for this country, and what it represents for those who come from elsewhere.
I'm thankful for nature's resilience despite our best efforts to destroy it.
I'm thankful for the cats who have fallen asleep purring on my lap.
I'm thankful for the Nursing Program and a future in which I can truly make a difference.
I'm thankful for all the times I've stumbled, and all the times I've had to pick myself up.
I'm thankful for the teachers who have seen my potential and pushed me in uncomfortable ways.
I'm thankful for movie nights in someone's arms.
I'm thankful for the triumph of a great achievement.
I'm thankful for the nights I've spent star gazing.
I'm thankful I was taught to love all creation and be filled with wonder with how it all works.
I'm thankful I don't mind getting dirty, and I'm happiest in a tent.
I'm thankful that I've been able to see the places I've seen, and do the things I've done.
I'm thankful for inside jokes.
I'm thankful for the smell of clean sheets.
I'm thankful for chopsticks.
I'm thankful for language and the diversity of this earth.
I'm thankful for the indescribable feeling of diving into cool, clear water, and swimming deeper and deeper until your lungs scream for oxygen and then bursting through to the surface and that first gasp of life-giving air.
I'm thankful for reminiscing with people who know me well.
I'm thankful for my dreams and hopes, and that I've been born into circumstances that make them possible.
I'm thankful for guitars at a bonfire.
I'm thankful for the people who have wronged me and how I've been challenged to forgive them.
I'm thankful for the people who have helped me when I refused to be helped.
I'm thankful for the way laughter makes me cells sing.
I'm thankful for the girls in the Nursing section, and how we've melded so well.
I'm thankful for how trees change color.
I'm thankful I'm a woman.
I'm thankful I'm ambitious and aim too high and dream too big.
I'm thankful I'm often impractical, reckless, and and impulsive.
I'm thankful for how often I've gone camping.
I'm thankful my dad has a boat and is actually willing to take me out on it.
I'm thankful for my lows and the times I've cried myself to sleep.
I'm thankful for puppies and their boundless excitement.
I'm thankful for peeper frogs.
I'm thankful for blackberries off the bush.
I'm thankful for playing tag in skates.
I'm thankful for dog walks in autumn.
I'm thankful for snow angels and woolen gloves.
I'm thankful for weekend markets selling local produce and goods.
I'm thankful for the times I've been able to comfort and help those around me.
I'm thankful for the miracle of birth and child-bearing.
I'm thankful for the sheer capacity of the human mind and what we are able to achieve with it.
I'm thankful for running through sprinklers.
I'm thankful for tomato sandwiches.
I'm thankful for walks in the rain with the promise of a warm fire and a cozy blanket at the end.
I'm thankful for tide-pools and the hours I've spent exploring them.
I'm thankful for my salvation. I still don't fully understand how someone as messy and self-centered and prideful and ignorant as me could deserve a gift so terrifyingly beautiful as the mercy of God, but I guess the whole point is that I don't deserve it. I won't question it, I'll try just to be thankful; to praise Him and His wonderful grace for all the things I wrote about above, and so much more than that... those things above are just a sampling of the wonders in my life.
I'm thankful for a season to be thankful. To take a break from being our usually critical, selfish, embittered selves and take a deep breath, look around us, and be thankful for what is.
~ Happy Thanksgiving Everyone ~
