Thankful

This isn't a rambling post, this is a post with a purpose. I just want to take a moment to express somewhere in writing all the things that I'm thankful for this season. It's for my own benefit really (and inspired by my thankful sister-in-law Emily) - I hope I'll refer back to it on occasion throughout the holidays and remind myself of all that I've been blessed with. So, here goes (in no particular order)...

• My happy marriage and my selfless husband (who is doing the dishes as we speak). And the fact that he supports my commitment to becoming a doctor and all of the extra work that entails for him in providing for our life together.
• My warm, well-decorated, SAFE apartment. I still don't know how we pay the rent every month, but somehow it always works out.
• The fact that "it always works out".
• My healthy, happy, adorable kittens. A small thing, but being a woman of child-bearing age who can't have children at the moment, I simply love to love them and care for them :)
• Growing up with the most loving, supportive family a kid could ask for, who always did their best to afford me every opportunity under the sun.
• The health and overall happiness of my family.
• The most loving, accepting in-law family a girl could ask for!
• Two healthy babies that are about to join our family - baby girl Villard due 12/27 and baby (???... we'll find out Friday!) Beck due 4/19.
• The fact that I was born in the richest, free-est country on the planet. I could just as easily have been born in an aluminum hut in Africa, and I never would've known the comforts that I enjoy daily.
• Having had 18 years with my wonderful great-grandmother. Most people can't say that.
• All of the PEOPLE in my life who have made my experience what it is, from friends and family to pastors, coaches, teachers, doctors, even the vendors from our wedding! It's the people you interact with and the relationships you cultivate that make your life feel "full", and I've been blessed with some WONDERFUL people in my life.
• Last but not least, I am so thankful for this incredible opportunity to become a doctor. This is no small thing, and I try to remind myself frequently what a privelage it truly is to be trusted with human lives. Blows my mind.

I hope that no matter what is going on in your life today, you can stop and take a moment to recount all of the many ways in which you too have been blessed in this life. I've certainly caught myself, on MORE THAN ONE occasion, complaining to God in my head and asking "why me?" about some petty thing that's bothering me, and counting blessings has always proven (time and time again) to be the best remedy. Give it a try. You won't be able to feel sorry for yourself for very long!

Happy Thanksgiving :)