Gratitude

A couple of weeks ago I attended one of the Church's addiction recovery sessions as part of an assignment for my psych nursing class.  I went because I had to and I left feeling more grateful for an assignment than I think I ever have.  I listened to dozens of people, most of whom I would never have thought were recovering from an addiction, who were in various stages of their recovery talk about the ups and downs they had experienced.  One man in particular discussed how he had had a particularly hard week and had sat in a lesson where he was asked to list things he was thankful for and he literally could not think of one thing.  My heart ached for this man.  He was in a such a low spot and was not even able to see all of the amazing things God has given him.   It made me think about how easy it is to get caught up in life and not even realize the incredible blessings that are ours.  So in an effort to remind myself of all that I have to be thankful for, here is a list of a few of those things:
- I am thankful for my sweet little sunbeams.  I seriously love those kids so much!  I am amazed each week when they say the prayers by themselves and they think of the sweetest things to say.  They are such examples to me.
- I am thankful for lots of new experiences lately, for our new home, ward and neighbors. Lots of opportunities to learn and grow!
-I am thankful for an incredible family and especially that we were all able to get together last night to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday!
- I am thankful for a garage.  Oh how I love not having to scrape off my car every morning!
- I am thankful for an incredible husband who risked life and limb to hang a picture for me this week!
- I am thankful for school and the blessing it has been in my life.  I still seriously love what I am learning and feel so blessed to be doing what I am doing!
- I am thankful for my testimony and for the knowledge that I have.  Especially to know of my savior and his sacrifice for me.

I know this list could go on and on.  Hopefully it will remind me to have a more grateful heart all of the time.