Thankful Tuesday!

I have to tell you- I am overflowing with thankfulness.

Some day, I will have the patience to type it out and time to tell you the story of how I started out in this life. It's a pretty incredible story of how God always knows what he's doing.

From the minute we enter the world, and all through our lives, He has a plan for us.

We can't always see where He's leading us, but we are given the ability to look back at situations and see His hand.

And that's amazing!

I am thankful for my friends. Nothing is quite as good a reminder of just how much they have each enriched my life as having my birthday yesterday. I was blessed by so many of my friends who wished me well yesterday- it does this girl's heart good. Some of them I only know online, and some I haven't been regularly in touch with since high school, but I am blessed to know each one.

I am so thankful for my parents. They are real-life examples of Christ. They've been together an awful long time and compliment each other in amazing ways. I got an amazing voicemail from my Dad yesterday in which he sang "happy birthday" to me and then he started to cry as he told me how much it is that he is proud of me and he loves me. I started to cry while listening to the message, of course. And I immediately put in a return call to him to tell him that I loved him too. I love them both and am eternally grateful for all they have done for me.

And I am thankful for each of the members of my home. About every 5 minutes last night, Caleb would say "happy birthday, mommy". On Sunday, he mentioned to me that he thought that he, Matthew and Daddy should get me a present. When I told him that this year, he was my present, he wanted to know if we had any boxes. When I asked him why, he said that he wanted a box so that he could get in it and I could open it and he would be my present. It made me chuckle and melted my heart all at the same time.

Can I tell you how thankful I am that Christ died for me? That even if I were the only one, he would have given His life, just for me. That He has paid the penalty so that I don't have to? That He rose again and calls me His child? Amazing, incredible, awesome stuff, I tell ya!

What are YOU thankful for today?