Thankfulness

What a word, is it really even a word, though I am sure you can get the drift of what I am trying to say...there are so many things in which God gifts us with throughout our lives that are truly amazing! Life, love, and laughter are such overused terms to mean something insignificant many times however, they are all truly significant things. So often, life is taken for granted. In my hometown just this week a wonderful woman, "Peaches," was taken from us far too early. She leaves behind two great kids, her parents and a brother who have been blessed throughout their lifetimes with her wonderful and infectious personality and humor. She was a mother to so many children in our community and a wonderful woman.

Love - there are so many tormented souls out there. So many times I watch as young people struggle and trade their worth for what they see as true love. People will fail us, it's the inevitable however, it's the investment that we make in their lives and we allow them to make in ours that determine the journey and the ability that we have to open our hearts and our minds to other people. Will we be rejected, at time trampled and abused, of course it will be done both intentionally and unintentionally to us during the span of life, it's just the way things happen. The only one who will never fail us or let us down is the Lord, and many times I believe we feel as if He has let us down because we don't receive what we feel we should or we deserve and many times I think that's because we don't allow Him to fully invade our lives, to really become a part of who He is and what He's doing around us. All that to say it's heartbreaking to me to see so many today that have quit investing in their relationships with their spouses, their friends, their families, their children, etc. it's heartbreaking because there is so much more received when we give of ourselves and our love than will ever be seen when we withhold everything from those we were created to enjoy.

Laughter - really is there anything better than catching up with friends you haven't seen in a while, enjoying good food, wonderful company, and laughing so hard that it hurts reliving the antics you pulled and experienced together. I know that there is nothing greater than experiencing life, in all it's messy circumstances than facing it with laughter and with the sense that craziness happens, and if you aren't able to laugh at yourself and laugh at yourself with others you are truly missing out on some of the greatest benefits of love and one of your Creators purposes for your creation.

I am not one for making New Years resolutions, not because I don't like them but because I have never actually kept one probably. So this year, I don't resolve to anything, but strive to become more and more like Jesus, to get off my darier and become a follower, no longer a fan!

Love you guys,
Lindsay