Blessed

Years ago, Kris & I lived in a 1-bedroom apartment with cinder-block walls and neon pink stairs. I carefully budgeted every cent, and we lived on Jiffy cornbread, Hamburger Helper, and canned vegetables. The one old car that we owned broke down (nothing shocking there) and Kris had to ride a bicycle across town lugging a heavy car battery in his backpack. It weighed him down as he pedalled MILES to the nearest auto-parts store, got it fixed, and then pedalled MILES back home to then work for hours in the hot, sticky darkness to fix it. We did what we had to do. I remember being so broke that I watched as a coworker put 50 cents in a Coke machine, and tears welled up in me because we couldn't afford the luxury of two extra quarters to spare on such luxuries as a soft drink. We've gone for months at a time each working multiple jobs and only seeing each other minutes a day.

Lately, Kris & I have been looking at all the blessings in our life and how far we've come...I decided that from time to time I would keep track of everything I have been blessed with, from the monumentally huge ones to the ones that seem little and insignificant. However, it's the seemingly insignificant ones that I think if we could all stop to appreciate would make our lives so much more enriched; we would realize how blessed we all truly are...

***my beautiful sunken living room, with hard-wood floors that my husband did himself

***I can afford cable & that gives me Discovery Channel, TLC, & HGTV

***God gave our family Donna-perfect partner for Dad, couldn't think of a better step-mom for us, and she was BORN to be Nana...

***God gave our family Donna's cooking... :-)

***2 dogs in my backyard that bark anytime anyone comes close to the house, giving me a taken-for-granted sense of security

***my students that inspire me, cheer me, motivate me, keep me going

***I have inlaws that love me and are wonderful grandparents

***the secret stash of chocolate Mrs. Linda keeps for me at work

***I have a washer and dryer in my house and don't have to go to a laundrymat to clean my family's clothes

***the baby clothes that sweet, generous, precious friends give to me

***I have a college degree

***I work right across the hall from one of my best friends

***my girlfriends that I meet with on Thursday nights...what a support system!

***I got to say goodbye to my mom, and she got to say goodbye to me

***Nutella

***I had all 4 grandparents in my life until my thirties, and I have pictures of them with my kids
***my parents taught me how to love God and how to be loved by God as His daughter...something I took for granted until I realized many people have a block when it comes to being able to do this

***I am still best friends with my best friend from high school, and she constantly inspires me

***I own a dishwasher....something that I will never take for granted after living somewhere that didn't have one

***the sweet people who volunteer week after week to take care of my children at church, both in preschool and in the nursery

***2 nice, working vehicles with heat/air conditioning, glass in all the windows, seat warmers, radios/CD players, all working parts...(I saw a family getting into a car last night with a baby...it was SO cold, and they had only Hefty trashbags taped to where the windows should be, and that image has stayed with me)

***the fact that my children are within walking distance from me all day while I'm at work

***there is a Starbucks close to me

***my son has slept through the night, in his own bed, with no problem since he was 8 weeks old
***although my daughter doesn't yet, she's a really sweet snuggler

***I live in a time when disposable diapers have been invented

***the sweet teachers in my ADK chapter

***when my son spilled a bottle of bubbles all over my laptop and completely fried it, I could afford to get another one instead of it being a HUGE disaster

***I understand French

***I am at a job that I miss when I'm away from it for too long

***I have managed to find the absolute best: hair stylist, Tae Kwon Do/kickboxing teacher, house-cleaner, pediatrician, dentist, obgyn, and family doctor

***I can get email on my cell phone...and text messages...and sudoku...and pictures of my family

***the ladies I eat lunch with and work with every day keep me sane

***I have my grandmother's piano, and I can play it for my kids

***The LifeGroup (Sunday School Class for you non-Brookwoodians) that we're in is filled with the most AMAZING people

***I have a closet full of clothes...so do my kids and my husband

***my church that loves everyone and accepts no compromise on preaching the gospel, while at the same time refuses to be stuck in the rut of tradition

***I have a fireplace

***my son LOVES his preschool teacher, and she loves him back

***I know how to play the flute

***I have an espresso machine, and a husband that can make REALLY good cappucino for me in the mornings...or at night when we curl up together on the couch...

***I know how to cling to my faith when all else fails me...and I've had that tested and proven true

***I teach at a school where I don't have to worry about IEPs, 504, standards/benchmarks, Madelyn Hunter lesson plans, or the government's paperwork

***my 2 sisters that are my best friends, share my sense of humor, understand the importance I place on my faith, and are the only ones in my life that understand exactly what I've lost in life by not having my mom anymore

***my niece that is SO beautiful, SO smart, SO sweet, SO talented, and looooves her aunt...
***a healthy, beautiful, hilarious son that is sharp as a whip, sleeps through the night, loves fruit and veggies more than fried foods, opens up his heart to his mommy, idolizes his daddy, and is the sweetest big brother I've ever seen

***a healthy, beautiful, super-happy daughter that barely ever cries, smiles through anything, snuggles whenever given the chance, is showing her genius by already talking, and already knows how to bat her long, dark eyelashes at her daddy

***a husband who loves God more than his wife, his children, or anything else; who puts his family first above everything else in this world; who takes the trash out, does the laundry, does the dishes, cooks, takes his son to school every morning, sends me texts that he loves me, makes me laugh like no one else, holds me when I need it, lets me go when I need it, knows how to apologize and how to forgive, and feels keenly his responsibility as a spiritual leader

***my relationship with God, which I would not give up for all of the blessings listed above; how could I survive without it?

I AM TRULY BLESSED!!!