The Gratitude Post

I was challenged at the end of October to make a daily gratitude journal.

What I said when I received my little notebook: "Oh yes, that sounds like a lovely idea. I will take this notebook and fill it with my grateful thoughts each and every day."

What actually happened: Little notebook promptly put in my bag and then forgotten about except when I reached in for my lip balm or keys. Then guilty feelings flooded my soul that I wasn't grateful enough to actually write down my grateful thoughts. This happened approximately every single day.

So, here I am with an attempt to purge my soul of all guilt and embrace gratefulness by sharing all these thoughts with you.

1. I'm thankful for public school. My kids have a great time and are loved by people they would never have met without public school.
2. I'm thankful for Marco Polo. What is that? The pool game? NO! It's a social media app that let's me and my friends/family share our thoughts and feelings together and then keeps the videos there for me to see later if I want. Also, you can watch/respond in your own timing. It's really fantastic.
3. I'm thankful for my family. We've been together for almost sixteen years. Our family is in a good place.
4. I'm thankful for my extended family. They are loving and supportive and investors into me and my kids.
5. I'm thankful for food. I love it. It loves me.
6. I'm thankful for freedom. Freedom to do as I please. Freedom to choose. Freedom to express.
7. I'm thankful for books. I love reading. Absolutely adore the written word.
8. I'm thankful for church. I love church. The people in it. The love in it. I love church when it's done well.
9. I'm thankful for 24-hour box stores.
10. I'm thankful for modern medicince.
11. I'm thankful for both of the cars our family has.
12. I'm thankful for a warm house and a sturdy roof.
13. I'm thankful for good friends. The kind that are framily. The kind that walk thru the darkness and hold each other's hands.
14. I'm thankful for music. That expression of the soul when words aren't enough.
15. I'm thankful for technology. For google especially that allows me to answer the tougher questions my kids ask.
16. I'm thankful for a vision and calling on my life.
17. I'm thankful for a sisterhood I get to be a part of.
18. I'm thankful for lazy Saturdays.
19. I'm thankful for busy weeks.
20. I'm thankful for modern conveniences like washers, dryers and refrigerators.
21. I'm thankful for a husband that loves me unconditionally and believes in me one-hundred percent!
24. I'm thankful for my oldest son who shows me how to wear hard things with grace.
25. I'm thankful for my younger son who shows me how to question and learn new things.
26. I'm thankful for my daughter who shows me how to have delight and wonder in this world.
27. I'm thankful for mentors new and old that have taught me and directed me.
28. I'm thankful for dessert. All of them.
29. I'm thankful for a flexible schedule that gives me time to write and watch Netflix. 
30. I'm thankful for you, dear reader. If you've made it down to the end, know that I am truly grateful for you and the way you allow me to have an audience to call out to.