Segways, Mini Horses, Great Family & Friends: A Year of Thanksgiving

In about a month I will say farewell to 29 and welcome my 30s. My 20s have been great. I’ve met people I never thought I would, done things I never thought I’d do and learned more than I care to admit on most days. Twenty-nine was a great year, but as with each one that passes it brought a new set of challenges. However, it also brought a new set of blessings…unexpected blessings. No, I’m not talking about an unplanned pregnancy, or for that matter a planned pregnancy…no pregnancy! It’s those blessings that maybe I didn’t know I needed or anticipated I’d ever have.

So, this year I’m thankful for those unexpected blessings. I’m thankful for those calls from friends that came at just the right time and cards that show up on days my apartment mailbox is just filled with coupons or postcards advertising energy saving windows for the home I do not own. The flowers that showed up at work or the skirt that was surprisingly on sale when I made it to the register are thrown in there. Even the texts that came after the loss of an election can be added to the list. I’m thankful for the things that happened and those that didn’t.

I’m also thankful for the lasting blessings as well. I’m thankful for those friendships I didn’t know I needed but am so glad I have and that are so much stronger now than they were a year ago. I’m thankful for the people in my life who continually live like Christ and encourage me to do the same. I’m thankful for the people God uses in my life…who realize that their walk with Christ isn’t just about themselves, but affects the people in their lives as well. I’m thankful for those people who show up when they know you need them, they pray for you and wish so badly they could just pray harder to fix the challenge you’re facing. The people who God put in my life who actually carry the burden with them because they know it will make it a little bit lighter for me are irreplaceable. I’m thankful for parents who taught me that the truths you learn in the great times in life are still true in the hardest and bitterness, while it seems appealing at the time, never leads to joy.

I’m thankful for dinners with great friends and family, calls accepted even at the least opportune times (looking at you, Mom) and the encouraging messages that made even the most challenging days bearable. The people who turned their world upside down without thinking twice to visit are just a few of the ones I’m thankful for this year. I’m thankful for the impulse book purchase I made from Lifeway…I know, it is getting out of control when I’m thankful for things related to Lifeway.

To be clear, not every day of 29 was challenging, hardly even, and I’m thankful for those days as well. There were beach trips, mountain vacations, ridiculous days with my nieces and nephew, last minute trips home, an Olympic party that made all of you wish you’d been there, Segways, mini horses and goats and a van carrying a sign that says, “We don’t eat where Mama can’t smoke.” There were trips to see friends, a Homegoing celebration (RIP Whitney - gone too soon), Honor Flights, a wedding guest book with a Senator, my first appearance on a jumbotron, Titanic Remembrance Day at the Potomac Nationals Game, puppies - so many puppies, and a boat ride on the Potomac. This year brought countless other great times that are also not archived in a facebook album and likely for the best, I’m thankful for that as well.

Most of all, I’m thankful that there is an Almighty God who knows what I need better than I do. I’m thankful He directed my 20s and I’m excited to see what he does in my 30s…wow, 30s. God has a bigger dream for my life than I do and I’m so looking forward to seeing what it is and I’m happy to trade in mine for His. So, yes, I’m thankful for 29 because it drove me to Him and made me appreciate the blessings I didn’t even know I needed to ask for this year.

As Louie Giglio puts it, “When you have nothing left but God, you find He’s all you really need.” I’ve hardly lived 29 with “nothing left but God,” but I did learn He is in fact all I really need and for that I will be eternally grateful. Happy Thanksgiving!!!