This Thanksgiving I have a lot to be thankful for! This school year has probably been the best school year of college. It hasn’t been easy. There have been hard times, but overall it has been a pretty great year!

I think it’s important that we take the time to reflect on what God has done for us. If we think about all the blessings that God has given us, then it’ll give us a new perspective. It helps to be grateful for all we have instead of complaining about what we don’t have.

This Thanksgiving I challenge you to make a list of all that you are thankful for! I’m going to write about the top 6 things that I am thankful for this Thanksgiving, and I challenge you to do the same thing! Feel free to comment the top 6 things you’re thankful for!

 

Here is my top 6:

• Liberty University- I am extremely thankful to be at a school that I absolutely love! As I walk around campus I can’t help but thank God that he gave me the opportunity to go to Liberty. There are always things to do for fun. Liberty has taught me a lot, and has given me opportunities that I wouldn’t have most places.
• My Church- I currently attend Brentwood Church in Virginia. I am thankful to go to a church that values development. I have been in the development program as an intern for almost a year and a half. My faith and relationship with Christ has drastically improved since I started going to Brentwood. Every week there is something new I am learning. I also believe that many of the people at Brentwood have become my extended family and or my closest friends in Lynchburg.
• Family- I am so thankful for my parents and brother! I wouldn’t be nearly the woman I am today without my family’s love and support. I wouldn’t trade my family for any other family! I could be writing all day to say all the things I love about each member of my family, but I’ll limit myself to just a sentence about what I love about each member. I love that my mom is my best friend, and she is the one I talk to the most in my life. I love that my dad work countless hours to provide for our family. I love that my brother supports, protects, and encourages me.
• Friends- I am thankful for ALL the friends that God has blessed me with! I can’t even start to list all my friends that I am thankful for, because I am truly blessed in the friend department. I am thankful for the friends I have had for years or the ones I have only known for couple months. If you know me personally, then consider yourself a part of this category!
• Jesus Christ- Jesus Christ isn’t the first in this list, but He is the number one thing that I am thankful for! I am so thankful that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, and that he took the pain for me so I can go to Heaven. I also couldn’t imagine living my life without Christ or God. I have seen many miracles in my life that I can’t help but give God the credit for.
• Health- I don’t have nearly perfect health. If you know me then you might be surprised to see this on my thankful list. Though this year God has been teaching me how blessed I am in the health department. All my organs are working properly, and that I even could wake up this morning is a blessing. I have also seen God use what I used to consider health problems to further his kingdom, which is an awesome feeling to have. This shows me that God can use EVERYTHING (even the bad) in our life for His glory if you allow Him to!

 

Scripture References:

• “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” ~1 Chronicles 16:34 NIV
• “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” ~John 3:16-17 NIV
• “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” ~1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV
• “I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy” ~Philippians 1:3-4 NIV

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A little over a week ago I was at the mall with my friend and one of my roommates. It was a busy Friday where I was heading from one event to another, but they were all fun events. Until I got a text from my mom asking me to call her. I told her I’d call her after I finished being at the mall with my friend. That’s when she texted me to call her soon that it wasn’t going to be good news. My mind started to race at what it could be. I immediately called her back. I could tell from her voice that it was something life changing.

She told me that my grandmother had died earlier that day. My friend asked what my mom was calling about, and I told her. I suddenly burst into tears, and she asked what she should do. I told her to talk to me about anything, but the situation with my grandmother. That’s a brief way of how I am handling losing her. I have kept busy since her death, but every now and then I think about her. I can’t really wrap my head around it.

I think of all she has done for me in my past. She helped form me to the person I am today. She has always been a person I looked up to. She sacrificed a lot to help my family and me. She paid for trips with us. She let us use her car, which was one of the first cars I learned how to drive. She even let us live in her house for a couple years until she sold it.

She also is the one that showed me passion for the arts. She was a really great artist, and she taught me most of what I know about the visual arts. This is one thing that we shared, and usually what we bonded over. I always enjoyed seeing her artwork, and I always wanted to be as good as her. I don’t think I’ll ever be as talented as she was. I have a new respect for art though, because of her. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to pick up a colored pencil or a paintbrush without thinking of her.

I haven’t had the best luck in the grandparents’ department, but she was the one that I truly cared about and loved. She was the only grandparent in my life that made me feel like she cared and loved us as well.

Unfortunately, when she moved back to Florida we sort of grew distant, and this is the one thing I regret the most about her dying. I saw her 2 times since I started college. There were times I thought I should call her, but I never did. Now looking back, I wished I had called. The last time I saw her was a few weeks before she passed, and one of the few things she told me was that she regretted that we had grown distant in the past couple of years.

All this to say that if you still have a grandparent that you love and care about, then don’t have the regrets that I have. Take maybe an hour out of your day to call them, or schedule a time to visit them. You never know when you won’t have another opportunity to do so.

 

Some of my favorite memories with my grandmother:

• Her teaching me how to draw a flower.
• Her being at the big events in my life like my dance recitals, award ceremonies, etc.
• She helped me create a second altered book.
• When her and my family drove from South Carolina to Idaho.
• In her house, she allowed me to paint my whole room. This included a huge mural over my bed.

 

Scripture References:

• “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” ~Revelation 21:4 NIV
• “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” ~2 Corinthians 5:8 NIV
• “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” ~John 16:3 NIV
• “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it” ~Proverbs 22:6 NIV

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