love

I keep choosing broad topics to be thankful for, but I don't believe this would be a complete gratitude month challenge without talking about love specifically.

I do not have in my life the love and support of a husband, and I will say right now that I long for it. I long for it every day of my life. I have dreams that promise me this will come. I see my friends and family enjoying the benefits of long-term support, namely the comfort/security that comes with it.

I feel keenly the absence of this love, so I believe I feel more keenly the other loves that are in my life:

Love from my children—apparent and assumed
Love from family
Love from close friends
Love from casual friends
Love from acquaintances
Love from neighbors
Love from co-workers
Love from strangers
Love from God

Because I am lacking something essential, I am able to more fully appreciate the kindness and care I receive from everyone around me.

So today, I am thankful for the love I see all around me—for the love my friends and family enjoy and for the love that comes my way.  

a job I love

Being an English teacher and an editor with social media expertise is a strange combination, but it has served me well.

I am able to have the career I want and enjoy because I took time to add a minor during my undergraduate studies. That one decision put the fork in the road I wouldn't know I'd need for around five more years. So much opportunity for growth, service, and gainful employment has been mine because I took time to really listen to the guidance of the spirit.

I give thanks to God for watching over us even after making that decision to change my minor. I was led by the hand to talk myself up, sharing irrelevant at the time information about my skillset, which ended up being how I have my job today.

The school I work for is so wonderful. They really care about life/work balance with our families being a priority. It's refreshing to be empowered and appreciated as well as I am too. Time and again, I am given opportunities to practice my skills and serve the school. There are also wonderful people there. Such sweet and kind people to work with and learn from and grow with. Not many people are able to be so satisfied with their job, but I am and I feel quite blessed because of it. So fortunate indeed.

I am so thankful for the entire experience from my educational choices to now. 

paper products

I say paper products generally because there are many forms that make life better. I love to throw parties, so napkins, paper (or plastic) cups, and paper plates are nice. But honestly, I like to use real dishes whenever I can. It's more environmentally friendly to do so and fancier if you ask me. That can only really happen when doing smaller types of events, but I love it. If I have about fifteen people or less coming, I go with real dishes.

But anyway. What a tangent.

I am thankful for specific paper products today. I have been sick all weekend and now creeping into the week, and I have resorted to the mighty paper towel as facial tissues and toilet paper just are not cutting it for me. I am very thankful that I have any of these three paper products in my possession, but I am most thankful for paper towels today.

Partly why I am so thankful for paper towels is that there was a time when I couldn't afford paper towels. I learned quickly when my divorce process began that paper towels are a luxury when distribution of marital resources is not equal. I didn't have paper towels for a few years but every once in awhile when I'd splurge.

Today, as I reached in pure desperation to find relief for one instead of a tissue, I recalled when I would ration them or simply go without and the gratitude overwhelmed me. I haven't begun to take paper towels for granted (just ask my kids about how I get after them for wasting them), but the thankfulness that I had some on hand was poignant.

Paper products are a wonderful luxury, and I'm thankful for how they help me live more comfortably.

good health

As I type about my gratitude for good health, I am coughing my brains out and have so much sinus pressure that I need to be lying down.

That said, I can more keenly appreciate feeling good and recognize how well we have all been this past year. Yes, my children and I have had some illnesses here and there, but it's all been recoverable types of things. Allergies and stress have been the main culprits around this place, so there is much to be thankful for as those are not so bad considering what some families go through on a daily basis with chronic illnesses.

Reading Tuesdays with Morrie with my youngest just a month or so ago was a real eye opener about the effects of ALS. I cried when I'd try to put myself in Morrie's position. I can hardly imagine the trial of suffering that people go through. I don't really know what more to say about it, so I just won't say more since I don't want to sound ignorant and insensitive.

My point is that I see how blessed we have been to enjoy such good health and how protected we are even in our struggles. Even with a terrible cough and feeling poorly, I am thankful for this body and my children's good health right now. Very thankful.

Seeking to Become - November 2017

As I connect that this is the final Sunday of November, I realize that I haven't written my Seeking to Become segment that I intended to write one of these Sundays. So here we are!

I'm thinking about how thankful I am for the scriptures and this writing and reading challenge that I've put myself up to. There are times in our lives when we are our own best friend, and I'd say that this Seeking to Become challenge falls under that category. I've helped myself to hold to the iron rod of faith through this tool, so I owe my past self for seizing the day and keeping on keeping at it.

There is something about having a goal to look forward to. It keeps me looking ahead despite the hard times. These monthly goals keep me working on my flaws and weaknesses. I am a good person, but I struggle with keeping a charitable attitude at times. My appreciation overflows for how I am guided and calmed by the spirit as I read and ponder and set goals.

For this coming month of December, I want to focus on charity, the pure love of Christ, as Christmas is near with the scripture found in Alma 7:24 in the Book of Mormon as a motto:

And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works. 

I hope to abound in good works this coming month that reflect the charity I hope to cultivate and share with others. I hope you will join me.