Walking Together: Thanksgiving in August

I have thought a lot about my blog this summer. Yup, I thought of things I could be writing or pictures I could be posting. I gave it a lot of thought... Clearly, that is as far as I got. But Dan is now on vacation, so I have just a little time to sit down and post some thoughts and pictures on my much neglected page.

I have been thinking a lot about contentment lately - thinking about how one can be content in their circumstances but not fall into complacency. I never want to lose my drive to continue growing as a wife, mother, professional, etc... but I also don't want to feel like I am constantly striving for more - striving to have more, do better - at the expensive of ignoring the blessings right in front of me. I don't want to be greedy but I also want the best for my family and, let's face it, for myself. Is that being discontented? These are some things I have been mulling over these past several months.

I have decided that contentment is directly related to thanksgiving. No, not the holiday in November; rather, the conscious and continuous recognition of my blessings. I forget to be thankful. I forget that so much of what I have is not a necessity and I start living in an attitude of entitlement...that I some how "deserve" or "should have"

certain things. I deserve nothing. I am given everything. God has so much love for us that he showers us with blessings -- so many blessings that we become numb to them; we forget that they are blessings. And besides the fact that we become numb to our blessings, we also, as the Caedman's Call song suggests, "mistake our happiness for blessing." We think that, because we are not feeling happy or are going through a rough spot, we are somehow not blessed. Our feelings and God's blessings are not always related. Happiness does not equal blessing and sadness does not mean lack of blessing. I can have the worst day of my life and I am still blessed. And when I start remembering to be thankful - and stop feeling entitled....I am at peace; I am content. So this blog post is about my blessings - about the little moments and the things in my life that I do not deserve but have been gifted from a Savior who loves
me; who loves us.