Everyone is jumping on the 30 days of thankfulness bandwagon, and here I go, too! I decided I would come up with my list because my life has started to feel overwhelming and sometimes out of control. I need to put this back into perspective so that I can appreciate what I do have. I need to give thanks to God for the wonderful life that I am blessed to live. Honestly, I’m going to have a hard time deciding what order to put these in, so please ignore the order and realize that the ordering of my list is less important than the heart of the contents of it. 🙂
Here we go, with my first 5:
1. I am thankful for my health.
2. I am thankful for the freedom to make choices about how to raise my own children.
Thank you to Loudmouth Photography for this adorable picture of my kiddos!! Brandy ROCKS! |
Isn’t it amazing to have the ability to choose pretty much everything related to child rearing? From health care, to education, to discipline, to nutrition, and more, there are so many choices. As their mother, I have full control to make decisions – and mistakes – by myself and with my husband. I’m really thankful for this.
3. I am thankful for access to clean water to drink and reasonably safe foods to eat.
It’s easy to forget that in much of the world, the water is not clean or even easily accessible. Not only that, but safe and reasonably clean foods might not be available. I am blessed to live where I can get clean water to drink by visiting one of MANY sinks in my home and filling a glass! I can also purchase food within blocks of my home. Fruits, vegetables, meats, and dairy are available at convenience stores, groceries, and other markets all around me. So many people, even in the US, are unable to access fresh produce! That seems unimaginable to me. Even more unimaginable is that so many families across the world are unable to find a variety of food at a price that is affordable or to even find it available to them at all.
Opening up the pantry, fridge, and freezer (which I’m also blessed to have access to) and sighing due to a lack of “good” choices is kind of ridiculous when you think of all of that…
4. I am thankful for my fertility.
I could never stop at just ONE test! |
While I sometimes feel like maybe we have too many kids, particularly when they are ALL acting up in one way or another – STRESS!!!!, I feel incredibly blessed to have been able to conceive, carry, and birth each of them. This is not something that all women are able to do, and I know there are many out there that would give just about anything for this privilege. I need to take deep breaths and remind myself how blessed I am. By the grace of God, I am able to create people made out of my husband’s and my DNA without having to go through any elaborate measures or procedures. They are happy, healthy, and beautiful.
Even though I have gone through a miscarriage in the past, with my first pregnancy, my overall track record is pretty much flawless and I am incredibly grateful.
5. I am thankful for my ability to breastfeed my children.
Nursing my first child at almost 7 months old |
Again, I know there are many women that have been unable to nurse their babies. I realize it is not something all women do or want to do, but nursing has always been something I desired for my own children. I have been able to nurse all of my children without any major or lasting issues. My first nursed about 15 months, my next about 27 months, the next about 25 1/2 months, and I’m currently nursing my 6 month old. It’s been an honor to be able to nourish my children in this way and to bond with them. Being the sole source of nutrition has given me the opportunity to really connect with my littles since I couldn’t leave them with anybody for long at all. None of them ever really did the bottle with pumped milk thing, so it’s been all me, all the time! I think it’s also taught me patience and has helped me to be a bit more laid back out of necessity.
Stay tuned as I continue my list in the days to follow….
Staci @ 7 on a Shoestring says
I love it! You are amazing and I always enjoy getting the opportunity to talk with you. I think you have an amazing array of blessings and glad that you are just getting started with sharing. Looking forward to reading more. 🙂
notyourcraftymom says
🙂 It’s always great to be thankful and to remind others to be thankful.