Start Counting Your Blessings

This is a very sweet video. The song always makes me stop and think of my many blessings.
I hope it does the same for you!

We're going to have ALL NINE OF OUR CHILDREN here for Thanksgiving. It's a real trick to get them all in the same place at the same time anymore, so I'm excited! We'll also get to have my mother-in-law (whom I adore) and 2 of the grandkids. I hope I bought enough turkey!

Just a few of the many things I'm thankful for today and every day:
I serve a God who loves me and proves it to me over and over, even though I don't deserve it.
I've been with the same wonderful man for HALF MY LIFE, who still thinks I'm beautiful even after 20 yrs, 60 lbs., and 5 pregnancies (and you know what those pregnancies do to a body, don't you?).
I have healthy, happy, wonderful kids who make every day worth getting out of bed for.
I don't have many friends. In fact, I can count my true friends on one hand, with fingers left over. But those I do have are loyal, wonderful, and irreplaceable. They truly know me, yet somehow they still love me... Amazing.
God has blessed my husband's work, allowing me to be here with my kids and teach them at home. How many families of 8 are able to do that? God's hand is all over that. Though not always easy or fun, I wouldn't trade those moments sitting around the "school table," discussing God's Word, or watching the light bulb come on in their little heads, after struggling with something difficult. Homeschool has been one of the most overwhelming, difficult roads God has ever asked me to follow, and it has also been the most rewarding privilege I've ever been given. I can't imagine some other teacher getting those precious moments with my babies instead of me. What a gift!

Now, stop reading my list and go make your own...

I hope you spend the holiday surrounded by those who love you!

A quick P.S.: I know some of you reading this are spending Thanksgiving this year separated from family members who are in the military. I'd like to say Thank You! to all the men and women who serve, and their families. As I sit down to count my blessings this year, your dedication, sacrifice and faithful service will be at the top of my list, along with prayers for your swift and SAFE return. May this be the last Thanksgiving you will ever have to spend apart.