Much

I have so very much to be thankful for…the past few weeks have been so up and down for me. I think that is probably the most frustrating part about this beast that I fight with…you never know when the good days or bad days are coming. I have been feeling like my medication maybe isn’t working so well anymore…and that leads me to today’s post on how much I have to be thankful for.

You see, when the bad days come, I can reflect and think about how many good moments I have also had this week. The good moments gives me hope. I have hope that tomorrow might be a good day. So, for today…I am choosing to be thankful for the many, many blessings in my life!

A few years ago I read somewhere that if you struggle with depression (or a variety of other things as well) it would be a good idea to start counting your blessings. At first I kind of rolled my eyes at this suggestion. (just being real here.) I didn’t believe it would matter…I didn’t believe it would make a difference…
Until I tried it. When I started my gift list…counting my blessings…listing the many, many ways that God has blessed me…I didn’t know how beneficial it would be. I have learned that counting my blessings allows me to take my focus off of the negative. I don’t always do it perfectly. Yes, I still have bad days…but in the midst of the bad days, I still have hope. Because God is faithful…I can look back over my list of goodness and see (visible proof!) of God’s goodness in my life!!

And the beauty of counting my blessings is that I’m not only encouraging my own heart, I am blessing the heart of God. I am giving Him thanks. I am acknowledging that He is the giver. I am giving Him praise. I am choosing to thank Him even though every day isn’t always beautiful and picture-worthy. True worship.

I don’t know what tomorrow holds. But, I do know who holds my tomorrow. And so for today, I’m giving thanks…

the cutest t-ball player ever (I might be a little bit biased)

how Caleb loves to get up on game days and run around the house getting all of his equipment and “uniform” ready to go

cheering from the stands

memories of watching my brothers play baseball for many years growing up

a slow weekend

the girls excitement over a week of ART fun at art camp

pulling out my old scrapbooking stuff and giving it a go…and guess what? I still enjoy it! ha! I haven’t scrapbooked in more than a year. But, I got probably over 20 pages done this weekend and it felt so good. I still have it in me. 🙂 I have kept going back and forth about going digital, just for the ease of it and not having the “stuff” everywhere…but this weekend proved to me once again that I just love pretty papers, ribbon, thick pages, holding the stuff in my hands…it’s a process and I enjoy it. It was good for me.

discovering the beauty of worship in new ways

hearing Caleb ask again and again, “come throw the ball with me, daddy!”

watching David and Caleb play ball from the windows. I love it.

the girls jumping in there and having a full-blown baseball game in the back yard

ordering a few new books (thanks to YOU for ordering through my amazon links!! I can’t wait to share some new great books I have been reading with you!! what are YOU reading this summer?? more to come soon…)

fun at the pool (yes, even I had fun!) 🙂

happy hour at Sonic

ice cream on a very hot summer day

answered prayers

God’s faithfulness

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I dare you. Try it. Start your own list. See if God doesn’t show up in big ways. There is an entire gratitude community waiting to share in your joys. Give it a go…start counting your blessings and see how God changes your heart through the process.