Giving Thanks, Part 1

So, as I said in my last post, I'm going to try to start on the whole being more thankful thing. I thought, that in order to be more accountable, I'd better publish the things I'm thankful for. I want to get a list of at least 100 but I won't bore you with it all at once. Here's my start ...

I'm thankful for:

1.     hot water and flush toilets

By the way, these are not in any particular order although flush toilets are pretty far up on my list.

2.     birds
3.     God's patience with me
4.     Christian parents and an idyllic childhood
5.     pets
6.     daughters, sons-in-law (4 of each) and grandchildren (all 6 of them)
7.     the fact that Paul didn't leave me until after our children were grown
8.     lifelong friends
9.     the Bible
10.   a job that I enjoy and great bosses
11.   getting to live in the country
12.   books, books, and more books
13.   a warm fire at night
14.   medical care
15.   a car that, though quite old, runs
14.   my sewing machine
15.   my brother, whose struggles remind me how blessed I am to walk with             God
16.   my Tuesday night Bible Study and my Monday small group
17.   alarm clocks (without which I could NEVER get up)
18.   thrift stores
19.   eye glasses
20.   computers
21.   the times when I don't have to wear a bra
22.   photographs
23.   music
24.   the strength that God provides
25.   opportunities to minister to others

Enough for tonight. I will say that I awoke this morning and immediately began thanking God for some things. I was foggy, still not fully awake, but it was a wonderful way to start the day before ever getting out of bed. When I finally did get up I discovered that we had almost no water pressure because the switch on the well's booster pump had frozen up. I had to stick my head in the sink and wet my hair under a trickle of water so that I could attempt to tame the serious bed-head before going to work. It was a slightly rocky start to the day and certainly unexpected but it didn't seem to bother me. It just became a funny little story to tell. I'm thinking maybe that's because my attitude was subtly influenced by the thanks that had been on my mind first thing. We'll see.