Thankful Thursday - Week 4

Hello all my darlings and dears! For those of us in the US, today is Thanksgiving. I hope that your Thanksgiving has been marvelous and blessed beyond belief. As we are surrounded by our families and friends it is such a great joy to share with others whether it be our food, our thoughts, or our laughter. Today, I am carrying on with my Thankful Thursday post as usual. If you would like to know more about this series, you can read about it here. Don't forget to check my blog for the other posts in this series as well.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

-James 1:17

1. Planners and Planner Stickers - In week two I talked about the planner community. This is a little different from that. This is me being so grateful that I have such a strong bond of planners and planner supplies with my best friend. There isn't a week that goes by that we don't talk at least once about something planner related. I am truly blessed to have that time and excitement with her.

2. Blankets and tons of them - I am from the south, we don't experience the winter like other places might; however, the past few mornings have been cold for me. I have been so thankful to have multiple blankets to snuggle under at any given time. Just knowing that someone out there isn't as blessed as I am really breaks my heart. It is strange, but I actually love the feeling and weight of so many blankets to snuggle into. It has been a comfort during the shivers.

3. Being able to learn and to grow - I am very thankful that I am surrounded by a group of friends and family that allow me to grow and change and flourish. They encourage me, strengthen me, and critic me. I am grateful that I have these bonds that allow such growth, especially having come from a place in live when growing and change was more threatening than encouraging. I am truly blessed.

4. Access to drinking water - With millions of people in danger of contaminated drinking water in the future thanks to the DAPL (Dakota Access Pipeline), I am even more grateful that the water I have access to, from tap, is drinkable. It is a luxury that not all humans have access too. I am truly thankful to have these resources available to me.

5. Homeschooling my Children - There are many reasons for me to be thankful and extremely grateful that I have the resources to homeschool my children. I know that many arguments that people have against homeschooling, I have heard most of them; however, I am thankful that I can let my children think for themselves and form their own opinions and thoughts without someone else telling them how they should think and believe. It is a blessing to be able to offer them that sort of freedom in their learning.

6. Budgeting - A few years ago I would have laughed at budgeting; however, after some financial struggles within the last few years, I have learned the value of budgeting properly. I am thankful beyond measure that I have learned this lesson now. I have been blessed immensely by being able to organize and understand where my money goes, even if I still struggle with it walking to the bookstore and hoping on Etsy a little too frequently (still working on that).

7. Food - Good or bad, I have food in my stomach today (Thanksgiving). I could have complained; however, in that moment I decided to be grateful for the food before me when so many others are not blessed with as much. Food is a huge part of my family, so being grateful and thankful for it is a daily occurrence. I have been truly blessed to always be able to provide yummy goodness. So like many on this day, I am thankful for food.

May your blessings and gifts overflow into the lives of others.