A time of Thanksgiving

Pretend with me, if you will, that this quarter pounder is really a cornocopia of food at a Thanksgiving spread. There. Doesn't that look tasty?

Today I want to take time to count my blessings, but I think I'll have to cut it short. To count my blessing, I would have to go on forever. I won't actually count them though, I shall just name them.

I am thankful first and foremost for my relationship with God, that He has given me salvation, and that He has control of my life, for Bibles and prayer and for study of God's Word. I am thankful for my family, for the friends whom God has bestowed upon me, for the situations in my life that draw me closer to Him. I am grateful that my family all trusts in God, I am grateful for my job, for my church, for a house to live in. I'm thankful for Mr. P, for books that are great delights to read, for movies that make us laugh, For companionship, for comradery, and for brotherly love. I am thankful for a warm bed, for a soft cat with tickly whiskers, for geckos who lick their eyes, and for betas in aquariums at work. I'm thankful for technology, for the means to take part in that technology, and for the ammenities to take a shower everyday. I'm thankful for my artistic talents, my sense of humor, my strange hair, and generally for the person that both God and my parents have made me to be. I'm thankful for all the sacrifices that my parents have made for me, for the times they spent on their knees in prayer for me, for the fact that I'm alive today. I am thankful for the provision of a new car, for music that touches and expresses the soul, for the brilliant array of colors and hues and tints. For the feel of cloth, for the texture of everything, and for the ingenuity of our minds to create things from cloth, wood, metal, and paper. I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to teach little children about God's love, and for voices to sing and glorify Him. I'm thankful for the ability to read, to write, to think, to dream, and to reflect on what I have learned. For the chances to love those around me, for friends who can help me out of sticky situations, for advanced medical care, and for the means to afford it. For the computer I am typing on, for the sweet smells that I am smelling, for frozen salad, for an extended family, for grandparents, and for times of laughter. I'm grateful for the little girl in Nicaragua who is impacting my life, and for the creation of pencils, and erasers. I'm grateful for the chance that I have of sharing this with you. I'm thankful for chocolate, for birthdays, for fruit, and for the dinner on the table. I'm thankful for ice cream, for traditions, for heritage, and for this country. I'm thankful for summer, for winter, for springtime, and fall. For the buds on the trees, the leaves on the trees, and the fallen ones down below. For flowers, for flora and fauna, for insects and spiders and little feathered birds. For freshly baked bread, and apple crisp that is warm, for hot cocoa and popcorn and tall glasses of orange juice. I'm thankful for IKEA and for JoAnn's, for John's and for Old Navy and Gap, for resourses to spend there, and for a Ma who now loves to shop. For seat warmers in cars, and ice scrapers and gasoline. I'm thankful for Jane Austin and all my other favorite authors. For bands that rock out, and mock-up rooms and exacto knives and rulers and light tables, for double-sided tape, and spray booths and iPods, and I'm thankful for younger brothers, and heckling, and Kline Creek Farm, for historical costumes and sewing machines and patterns, for pait and paintbrushes, for bristol board and Sharpies, but I could go on forever, and I need to make apple crisp for dinner. For all of this and so much more I am thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving
-love, Lizzie Bennett