Count Your Blessings!

I just haven't been feeling very well this week. I've tried all that I know to keep myself up spiritually and emotionally and physically but here I am on Saturday evening......the Buckeyes are winning......and still feeling yucky. And then I went to Chantell's blog and she decided to just write out a list of positive things she has in her life. Sooooooo, I am going to copycat and go for it here, too! 'Cause after reading HER list, I found MYSELF feeling so much better. So here I go in no particular order.

1. I have a wonderful, comfortable home that I love and it is not too big for me to take care of. It is just the right size for us. It isn't fancy schmancy. It is home and comfortable and where we love and live.
2. We are blessed to be debt-free. Please know that I'm not bragging here. It's just that I am not able to work any longer and Ed is retired (he turns 65 this month!) and we have worked to achieve this place in our lives and I am so thankful that we have been able to do it.
3. We have the happiest dog "in the whole USA"! *smile* Rocky is just a huge, huge ray of sunshine in my life. I love that dog sooooo much! I could just pet and hug him to death! I love Ellie, the cat, too, but she's a cat. End of story. *grin*
4. Our son Daniel has a good.....no.....a great job......and he and his sweet wife walk in truth with the Lord. And Erin is just like a daughter to us. I am so thankful for the special relationship that we share.
5. As I've lost the ability to do certain things for myself, my sweet husband has just stepped in and helps without complaint. You should see us when he helps me put my hose on! We ALWAYS end up laughing but he is getting better at it!! LOL The Lord sure knew what He was doing when He brought us together so many years ago.
6. I have met some new dearest friends and spiritual family through blogging AND reconnected with friends that I had lost contact with. Isn't blogging great?
7. The Lord has blessed me with the gift of playing the piano and singing. Sometimes I forget what a blessing it is to just be able to sit down at the piano and play away my troubles and sorrows and hurts to the Lord, until I get to the place where I am able to lay them all down at His feet and begin rejoicing and singing "I'm Livin' By Faith" or "Won't It Be Wonderful There" or "Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus".
8. While from the waist down I may not be much good for anything, I sure feel good in the upper half of me!!! *smile* AND the only medicine I take is one little eensy pill to keep my blood pressure in check and Darvocet for pain. Other than that, I am healthy and feel wonderful! Sometimes I say, "I woke up this morning feeling great! And then I stood up! " LOL
9. I am able to read and I love it when I find a really good book that I can just get lost in. There is just nothing like finding a good book that you just can't put down. It's almost like taking a vacation, going places you've never been before and so on.
10. My circle of friends. What would I do without you? You each bring something special and different to my life and I don't know what I would do without you. I hope I enrich your lives as much as you do mine! We've laughed and cried and commiserated and gotten through alot of STUFF leaning on one another.
11. I'm comfortable in my own skin. Wow. 55. This is such a great place to be. I wasted so much of my life worrying about things that just didn't matter. I am who I am and I'm endeavoring to be who the Lord wants me to be. I'm not perfect by any means but I am striving to be like Him each and every day.
12. I'm so thankful I can do my own hair! So many women struggle with this but I determined many, many years ago that I was going to learn to do my own hair. I threw many a hairbrush and shed a few tears but I finally got the hang of it and even learned to do hair for other ladies.
13. I can cook some pretty good vittles, aka food. When you consider that I couldn't cook at all when Ed and I got married, I've made pretty good progress in 21 years. *smile* I was 34 when we got married and I had never fried chicken! BUT, if I remember correctly, I could make a mean baloney sandwich!!!
14. I just love my brothers and sisters. We are all sooooo different but I love calling them and talking to them and sharing the happenings of our lives. I have a twin brother, two older sisters and an older brother. We are all within five years of eachother in age.
15. I love Wednesday nights at church. You see, Sundays can be so busy for me what with doing music and all for two services. But Wednesdays are just so much more relaxed and a small group of us get there like really early and we usually sit around and talk and visit before it is time to go to the prayer room and I just enjoy this time so much.
16. And I am thankful to be an American and to live in this great country. I am thankful for our many freedoms and privileges. Some people complain about taxes but to me, it is a small price to pay for all that we are blessed with.
There you have it. And I DO feel so much better. Thank you, Chantell!
"Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done,
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your many blessings, see what God has done."