Image by Rickydavid via Flickr
It’s often hard when you’re going through a difficult time, to remember your blessings. Sometimes those blessings can seem so far away in light of the hard times that we forget them, because the darkness in our lives is so overpowering.
Personally, I’ve been in a tunnel for the last few years. I don’t understand the why of it, I don’t know why God allowed it to happen, but I know that He’s in charge and I trust Him, even if my heart has been broken into more pieces that you can imagine. It’s easy to forget to be grateful during such times, especially when they seem never-ending, as it often seems for me.
Despite the hardships though, God is still God in my life, and I am thankful for many things – especially the knowledge that God is still God in my life. It’s a knowledge that can not rely on "feeling" because without question, I do not feel God in my life in any way, shape, or form. Nonetheless, I know He’s there. Faith or belief isn’t based on emotion or feeling. There is no "tickle in the pit of my stomach," no "surge of emotion" to convince me that something is true. It’s just something I know, like I know I am female. I know God is present in a way that I can take for granted – but I don’t, I can’t. But more on that when I get my “Religion” page up in a few weeks. 
I am thankful for my husband and my marriage. There are moments when I think I could use “I” and “we” interchangeably because we think so much alike. We have weathered trials that would annihilate lesser marriages, but those same trials brought us even closer together and forged a bond even I can’t define. Our jagged edges fit together perfectly into a new union forged of separate wholes.
I am thankful for my children. I have been so blessed with them! No birth defects, no diseases, no trips to the emergency room (so far, thank God!). They are happy and well-behaved. They are healthy – I haven’t had to cope with autism or ADD or ADHD, or anything at all except for maybe 6 colds and 2 stomach flu incidents – between both of them, in their whole lives. They are bright, curious, inquisitive, smart, and grounded in their own identities. I am a lucky mom, and I am grateful!
I am thankful that I have a roof over my head and food on my table. I have a bed to sleep in and clothes to wear. I’m healthy – maybe 4 colds in the last decade? I can’t remember but I hardly ever get sick. I have a decent place to live with a few amenities that I so appreciate! I live in a pretty decent area that’s not high crime. Compared to many of you, I’m probably lacking a lot, but you should know that once you’ve been stripped of everything, little things that were once taken for granted become precious. It’s along the lines of that saying, “I was angry that I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.” You also learn that you can live without a lot of things you thought you needed.
I’m thankful I’m an American. Of all the countries I could have been born in, I think I got the best of the lot. We have our problems, no doubt, but I’ll take them over the troubles in other countries any day.
I’m thankful for the friends I’ve met here along the way. You know who you are. 
What you probably don’t know is that I pray for you, by name, pretty much every day. I am humbled by your kindness, your thoughtfulness, your generosity. You have been a balm for my spirit and I thank God for each and every one of you.
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