Give Thanks. Really.

Hello Readers,

It's finally one of my favorite weeks of the year: Thanksgiving week! Thanksgiving is a time of great food, great people, and great thanks. It is a time to take time out of your busy life and give thanks for all the people and wonderful opportunities in your life. I just love it.

I firmly believe in being thankful for my blessed life every day. Which I am. Unfortunately there are some days that go by and I forget to take just a moment to thank God for the wonderful and bountiful life that he has given me. Life is truly a wonderful gift, so why aren't we thankful more often? That's why I love Thanksgiving. Even if you don't celebrate with a big meal or a big family, that's not the purpose. The point is to take just one day out of the year to look back and take a look at how great life really is despite all the hard times.

This Thanksgiving, I am going to challenge and encourage all of you to look at every single seemingly negative aspect of your life and turn it into something positive. 
"Wow, I really don't enjoy going to my job" can turn into, "Today, I am fortunate enough to GET to go to work. It is such a privilege I have been blessed with."
"I really dislike this person and they just bring me down" can turn into, "This person may be having a tough time in life, I'm going to shower them with kindness, even if they do not do the same."

Everything that may be something negative in your life has a side to it that is positive. There is so much we can be thankful for this Thanksgiving. I also want to challenge you to extend your thankfulness to the entire year. Maybe take one minute out of each day, or even one minute out of the week, just to look back and find all the positivity you can in your life. Because I know that if you have the ability to be reading this post right now, you are fortunate to have access to a computer, tablet, or whatever people use to read on nowadays. 

Life is great. Think about it. We are all here living on this earth, we wake up each morning with a full new day ahead of us. We GET to go to work, school, and those sometimes crazy family reunions this year. We have so many opportunities presented to us in life. So why not embrace them with optimism? What's stopping you from taking the full potential in every situation? Just something for you to think about this coming holiday season. 

Now that I have that little pep talk out of the way, I though I would take some time to tell everyone what I'm thankful for this year.
 
First and foremost, I am thankful for the most amazing four people in my life. I have the honor and privilege to call them my family. My mom, my dad, and my two beautiful sisters. I am the most blessed person to have these people there for me for the rest of my life. I really couldn't ask for a better family to surround myself with. They are funny, insightful, and each of them are unique in their own ways. I'm so proud of each of them, and I look up to each one of them. Thank you, mom, dad, Emily, and Hannah, for being the best family I could ever dream of having.

 

The next thing I want to recognize is how thankful I am for my friends. I am so happy with the people I have chosen to surround myself with, they are all such wonderful people. I'm not going to name all of them, because I don't want to forget someone. But I want each and every one of you to know how much I appreciate your friendship and you being there for me through all of the years. To the friends I'm not as close with anymore, I am thankful for the times we shared together, and I will never forget the lasting positive impact you've had on my life. To my friends now: you are all awesome. I love all of you for caring and putting time into making such a strong bond that I know will never be broken. 

  

I am also thankful for my college. Although I have only been there a few short months, it has already become my home. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming I feel like I fit in from day one. I cannot wait to spend the next few years with these awesome people and professors and even the cafeteria workers. I am thankful for all of the close friends I have already made; we have so much fun together and you all make the college experience so much fun. I am so thankful for all of the people I have met through the church groups I go to. What Godly people you all are, it is so amazing to see young teens and twenty-somethings so on fire for God and ready to go serve him in this world. I cannot express enough how excited I am being at school. It has been such an amazing experience so far, and I wouldn't want it to be any other way. I am also pursuing the one thing I really have a passion for, and that makes me excited. 

I am thankful for all of the opportunities that I have already been presented with in my short lifetime. I have had the opportunity to travel across the ocean, I have had the opportunity to take pictures for my church's youth group in high school,  I have had the opportunity to travel to different parts of the country and document it on my camera I had the opportunity to purchase. I have been able to have a job I love at my local library, a job I will be able to go back to during breaks. I have had the pleasure of meeting so many amazing people and learn each of their unique stories. I have been able to drive around in the same little red car since my sophomore year of high school without any accidents or damage done. I got to be a part of a group of young people to work in the poverty stricken areas of Des Moines to give hope to and teach young kids about the grace of God. I have been able to express myself through many different mediums: photography, writing, and music. I consider myself to be very fortunate with all of the amazing experiences I've had so far. I could not be happier. 

Lastly, I wold like to say that I am thankful for my relationship with Jesus Christ. He has truly allowed me to be the person I have always wanted to be, and I know that he is going to keep blessing my life because I trust him with all that I am. Everything that I am, everything that I was, and everything that I will be is because of Him, and that is something that is comforting to me. Knowing he has a plan for me in my life is something that can never be repaid. Although I will try by honoring him and being the best person I can be. I will always try to be a light unto the world and be welcoming and accepting of all people. I will try to spread his grace through the work that I do, and just through talking to people and living as he lived. I am thankful I have such an amazing God to look to for everything in my life, whether it be my triumphs or my failures. I know he will always be there. And that is something I am most thankful for. 

So if you're still reading this at this point, well, props to you! It is a bit lengthy, I know, but I wanted to just put all of the things down in writing that have been in my head for so long. I hope and pray that this may inspire some of you to be thankful this season. It is worth it, and it will make you happier in the long run. I hope you all have a very happy holiday season, and don't forget to be thankful for every aspect of your life, every opportunity, and every person that has made some kind of impact on you at any time. Life is good, God is good, and the world is a wonderful place full of opportunity and wonder. Embrace it.

God Bless,

Madeline