i am grateful...

"feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it..." ~ william arthur ward

wow...where to start...as i reflect on 2009...once again...it has been a year of happiness, hurt, new beginnings, closed doors, open doors...laughter, tears...

and i wouldn't change a thing...

sure, there are things i wish turned out differently, disappointments i would have liked to have done without...

but in the big picture...i can see how everything that happened this year...shaped me, molded me, taught me, and opened my eyes...

isn't that just the way God works? i am so grateful for His love to me...for His patience with me...when i still fight Him on things...knowing full well that He knows what is best for me...He waits...till i'm ready to follow...once again...

i am grateful for my salvation...for my personal relationship with Christ...that no one will ever be able to replace...there is nothing like it...no greater love will i ever know...

i am grateful for wonderful parents...who have showed me what true love looks like...49 years together...the good, the bad & the ugly...and they have loved each other through it...may i be so lucky to experience that kind of commitment & love...

i am grateful for family...through the drama, the laughter, the tears, the fights, the make-up's...we are a strong unit...i am blessed with such an awesome extended family...

i am grateful for friends...friends who love me dispite myself...encouraging, loving, always there for me friends...friends that aren't afraid to tell me what i need to hear...friends who check in...friends who make my world a wonderful place to be...

i am grateful for this wonderful place we live in...a place of freedom...free to choose how to worship, free to choose a profession, free to choose...something i don't take for granted...

most of all i am grateful for life...thank you Lord for giving me this amazing life i live...may i never forget that tomorrow is not promised us...that i may live each day to its fullest...that i may live out your purpose for my life...