Grateful

I think that I should be thankful all of the time, but how often do I stop and take the time to truly be thankful, to thank God for the MANY blessings in my life? Not as often as I should. Although, it has been a bit more of a pattern lately. As Thanksgiving approaches, I want to dwell on God's goodness. Not just when things are going well, but ALL of the time. So, I will start by sharing a list that I started back in probably April. This list is "100+ Reasons to Be Grateful." I haven't gotten to 100 yet, but I'm working on it. I pull up this list every now and again, read what I've written, and add to the list. Some of them are light-hearted or even maybe a little silly, some are serious, some are vague, and some are specific.

100+ Reasons to be Grateful:
1) Family
2) Friends
3) A place to live
4) A job
5) Clothes to wear
6) A car to drive
7) A church family
8) The ability to support myself
9) Hope
10) Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross
11) The love of God
12) Opportunities to get away from the normal everyday life
13) The sunshine
14) My past experiences
15) Opportunity to change
16) God's mercy
17) Pain
18) The internet
19) Email
20) My travel experiences
21) Good health
22) Forgiveness
23) Health Insurance
24) More than enough food to eat
25) Laughter
26) iPod
27) Glasses so I can see
28) Communication (instant with friends far away)
29) Fabulous co workers
30) Memories
31) God’s provision
32) Side jobs
33) Feelings
34) Logic (to counteract the feelings)
35) Choices
36) An accountability partner
37) Women’s Retreat
38) Books & the ability to read
39) My Bible
40) FPU
41) Tears (how crying really hard actually feels good afterward)
42) Empathy
43) Lotion
44) Medical advances
45) Friends who know things I don’t and can pass that knowledge on to me
46) Growth
47) Humorous situations
48) The little joys in life
49) Exercise
50) Water
51) $.99 Diet Coke at McDonald’s in the summer
52) Weekly hikes
53) A “new” free bike
54) Dogsitting
55) Chances to give
56) Long term friendships that span time and miles
57) New paint
58) Being challenged to become a better person/more Christ-like
59) Time
60) Fun memories
61) Regular pay back
62) Mountains
63) The beach
64) Frequent Flyer miles
65) Random trips
66) Solid foundation
67) The good and the bad
68) Discipline
69) Warm clothes
70) The chance to vote

So, I guess I'm not really close to 100 after all. I hope to get to 100 by the end of the year and then to keep going from there.

Here's to being grateful and dwelling on God's goodness, not my own circumstances.