Thankful Sunday

Life gives us many things. It gives us the chance to experience all of the great things in this world and meet so many people from many walks of life. This morning as I get ready to head to work again, I wanted to take a few moments to write out some of the things that I am thankful for in my life today.


God: I am thankful for having God in my life. This is a hard one for me as I have struggled with "religion" and a relationship with God for many years due to a really bad experience with church from the age of 13-21 that put a "sour taste" in my mouth. I struggled with feeling like God was "punishing" me for years for choices I made by "taking my loved ones out of my life" for 8 consecutive years. I have learned that was never the truth, but for years I honestly believed that and it caused me to literally hate God or church....Now, I am beginning to open up myself and my life to God again and the possibility of finding a new "home church". Thank you God for hanging onto me, even when I was the most unlovable. : )

Family: I am thankful that I have a family that tries to do their best and to help each other out. We do not always get along, and there are many times that there is tension between us, but I know that when it comes down to it, as dysfunctional as my family can be, we are there for each other. I am thankful that my younger sister Heather has become my best friend over the years. We have shared many happy times as well as many sad times together. I am thankful for having the opportunity to become an "Auntie". I have two nieces and one nephew and one on the way but we do not know yet if it will be another girl or a boy. I love being an Auntie and I love my nieces Chloe and Hopealika (Hope) and my nephew Philemon (Philly) more than anything in this world. They have given me a sense of love and hope that I did not have before them. They have taught me that life also provides the simplistic pleasures that I once enjoyed as a kid. I love spending time with them and being a part of their lives.

 

 

Friends:  I am thankful for the friends that I have in my life today. Each one of you have blessed my life in so many ways, and for that, I am eternally grateful. This area of my life has always been a difficult one for me as I have had to learn to pull down my guard and allow people into my life. If any one of you were to ask me why I like being your friend, I would tell you exactly why because each of you mean a lot to me. Thank you for being there with my to share in the good times and to walk through the hard times with me. You all are such blessings in my life. : )

My Apartment/Job: I am thankful that I have my own place to live, and I have been able to live here for almost 5yrs. I have had a few apartments before this one, but where I currently live, I believe that this is a wonderful place to live and the people who have lived here for years are really nice...My parents and older sister live in the same apartment building as I do as they kind of followed me over here. In some ways it has been a blessing to have my family so close, but in others it still feels as if we are all living under the same roof...Maybe that's part of the reason I want to move out of state for a few years? I love my family dearly, yet I am not so sure it's cool that we all live in the same building at times. My younger sister does not live in my apartments, but on the other side of town which is good because I tend to go over to her house a lot to visit and to "get away" for a few hours.

I am thankful for my job. I have a retail job and although it is not the job that I want to have, I am thankful that I have a job to go to work and make money every day. I am thankful for the amazing employees and managers that I have at this job, which makes the job more enticing, yet I would prefer to finally get out of the retail world. For now though, it is a job and is what allows me to keep my home, electricity, car, pets and food on the table.

Pets: I am thankful for being able to have my cats. I have a 9yr old cat named Baby, whom of which I have had since he was a kitten and I love him dearly. I recently got a kitten who is 13 weeks old and with the help of my niece Chloe, we came up with the name Mittens for him. These two crazy felines keep me alert all the time when I am at home and even during the night when I am trying to sleep. I love them because they do not care who I am, what my past is, what mistakes I made in life or any of that...They have one condition and that is: If I love them and take care of them, then they will love me back no matter what. Pets have been a source of tranquility for me. I think I would be very miserable if I no longer could have a pet of some kind...

Baby is above and Mittens is on the right. : )













There are many other things that I am thankful for, but these are a few that came to mind as I was writing this out today. : )

~Melissa