Unexpected Blessings are the Best!

While I didn't get the time with my one-year old granddaughter that I was planning on having (stupid stomach bug hit Grandma at the wrong time!), some unexpected blessings came that would not have otherwise.  I had five teenagers at the dinner table tonight.  Thank goodness for a working freezer that was filled with chicken tenderloins and broccoli and then the left over Christmas gifts of artichoke dip and desserts.  I had baking potatoes (which is a rarity, but planned for Christmas Eve, and since Jon was that night sick, we had lots left).  So I pulled a dinner together for six, and so enjoyed the time together.  I had some bacon that was soon to expire and  thought it would be good on the baked potatoes.  One of our guests -- someone I just met tonight said -- "this is bacon with LOVE -- the real kind!"  The conversation was fun, and I realized that my youngest child will soon be off to college and these moments will become so rare.  I am cherishing them while I can!  While it's NOT my Grandma time as I had planned, still a time of blessing, and I am grateful.

Thankful for Bobby

I am thankful that Bobby is happy in Myrtle Beach. Bobby just graduated from high school last May. It was hard to see him move away from home. He has liked the jobs that he has had, and he is starting to look into taking college classes. He is still working on his artwork and is holding on to his dreams.
I am thankful for Bobby.  -Julie Willoughby

Why Be Thankful Here?

Science is now showing us that being grateful will improve our health.
Religion tells us that being grateful brings us closer to God.
I am choosing to be grateful because of both of these things. I also think about the opposite of gratefulness, being ungrateful. Ingrates appear unhappy and negative. People like this get on my nerves. When I am ungrateful, eventually I get on my own nerves.
I am starting this blog to have a place to be thankful, and I am inviting people I care about to have a place to share their thankfulness as well.

So, let us start the journey of thankfulness together.

Let me start with something I am simply thankful for, Buddy and Ginger.
Buddy is the dog in the front. Ginger, his litter sister, is the back.
I am thankful for Buddy and Ginger, because they love me unconditionally.
They are there to greet me every morning and every night. When I scratch behind their ears, I know I have made them very happy by the wag of their tails. Dogs are work. Feeding, cleaning, and cleaning up after their messes in the yard can be a drag, but the love they give me is far greater than the work required.
Thanks Buddy and Ginger for being my dogs. -Julie Willoughby