Day 4 of the Sits Girls writing challenge is to list 10 things were grateful for. I LOVE this writing challenge. It’s forced me to spend some time with my thoughts, and writing is an outlet like none other for this crazed wife and working mom!

I’ve kept a gratitude journal off an on for years, and I’ve found it to be an amazing way to lift my head up and look around at all God’s blessings, even in the worst of times. So let’s go. Here’s my list, right now, today (NOT in order of importance):

1. My Home – in yesterday’s post I talked about what this place means to us and it was so good for me because sometimes I get tempted to sell it. Houses that are 4 decades old require time and money and when new construction goes in I always think, wow, how cool would that be. But then I come home to my almost 1/2 acre and my front porch swing and yes, even the quirkiness of the panelling in the family room and I thin, nah. This is home.

2. My Crazy Kids – these are the quirkiest, most interesting, funniest and, at time, most maddening humans I’ve ever come in contact with. They crack me up, break my heart, and make me want to kill them (often times in the same 15 minute span of time). They truly are God’s gift to me and they round out my life in a way I never thought possible.

3. My dogs – I love the quote below from Lady and The Tramp. Even though they can be a lot of work (and even though while I was typing this, Walter The Wonder Dog peed on the floor) they are worth all of it because of the joy they bring us. There is nothing like walking in after a long day and having those wagging tails oh so delighted that we exist.

There are actually a bunch of things that money can’t buy, but I still love this quote. And this movie.

4. My mom –  And NOT just because she’s recently started reading my blog. Our lives haven’t been easy (no one knows that better than she does). But she taught me to love Jesus, afternoon tea, to always take good care of my feet, and to give and expect respect in all my relationships. The older I get, the more I appreciate her.

This was taken not long after we first met;)

5. My job – I’m in ministry. So what that means is that on alternating days (or hours) you either pinch yourself in awe of what God allows you to do, or you cry because you’re so devastated at the pain people go through, or you want to quit and walk out because honestly, the whole thing is just too dang hard. But it suits me and until God calls me to do something else, I’ll keep plugging along, imperfectly working to listen and to bring light.

6. My friends – I’m not a girl who has a lot of close friends, but there is a small tribe of women who always have my back and who always (well mostly) answer my calls. And when they do, they don’t just say hello. They say, with the very first few words, I love you and I’m glad you’re alive. Yup. I know, right?

7. My neighborhood – we know most of our neighbors on this street as well as the next street over. We bring gifts when someone has a baby, we pray when someone has surgery, we wave from our cars and we mow lawns when someone is sick. I keep hearing this doesn’t exist any more. Well, it does here.

8. Music – worship and otherwise, what would my world be like without it? Almost every conversation with every human sends my mind into lyrics and in my safest of environments (yes, even with my work team ) I sing them out loud. To quote Stevie Wonder from Sir Duke (one of my favorite songs of all time): Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand. Yup. It SO TOTALLY IS. And yes, I’m singing it now, too.

9. Running – yes, of course this made the list. Running gives me a challenge, a quiet time, a thinking spot and a healthy body. How could I not love it? It’s brought me amazing friends and experiences and, by the way, this blog.

10. My Husband – I do not have adequate words for what this man means to me. But let’s just say he is my earthly joy. Since I was 17 years old he has made me laugh, dried my tears, and loved me better than I ever thought anyone could.

Wow. I was worried I couldn’t come up with 10 but that was actually easy. I am blessed beyond measure and God is good. There are certainly heartaches and troubles in my little world, but the things on this list bring me back to center and remind me that there is a God and that I am not him – because only through Him could all these things have come into my life.

With gratitude.

Jen