For Thanksgivings sake

As cliche as it is, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, this year I'm thankful that:

- when my doubts about God make me want to throw in the towel the Holy Spirit calls me back to grace.
-for ACU. I spent a great deal of my time here either taking it for granted or just being irritated that I was trapped in the "great state of Texas." But at the end of the day, I am incredibly blessed to attend school here and I find myself very aware of my spiritual formation and personal growth.
-I have a great Job. I really love being an RA.
- for all of my amazing friends
- toilet paper and toothbrushes and all the other things we take for granted. There are parts of the world where indoor plumbing and clean teeth are non-existent to the masses. Lately I've found myself very aware of the inequality in our world and I have a great desire to not only point it out to those around me to try and figure out a way to make it a little smaller.
- the South. I used to think that I wasn't very Southern for a number of reasons sort of boiling down to the fact that I don't have the accent. However, I have come to realize that the South is a way of life and I love it. There is a charm in Southern cities that the rest of the world can't help but notice. We have crazy families, we sometimes drink too much, we always have congealed salad (otherwise known as "green stuff") at holidays, and we can make a casserole out of just about anything. How can you not love that? (disclaimer: I in no way think the South is better than the North or the East or West Coast. But I have just now learned to appreciate where I'm from).
-my education. This may I will have completed my degree and will be continuing on to grad school. I am very aware of how blessed I am to be in school and be able to think critically about the world I live in.
-snow on Thanksgiving
-learning to grieve with others and letting myself be legitimately sad, because lets face it, sometimes things just suck.
-for family, and all the challenges and joy they bring- for the lessons they teach me about love and giving (sometimes its not all about me...)
-an invitation to lunch
-a moment to cry, even if its only brief
-knitting, its amazing how you can turn a strand of string into something beautiful and useful
I could go on but for now I'll stop in honor of all my other Thanksgiving festivities...

Happy Thanksgiving! Eat some cranberry sauce for me!