Day 21

"While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples...Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it."

Mark 14:22-23

I am extremely blessed. I have a wonderful husband, a house I don't pay for, food, two cars, more jobs than I can keep up with, great friends, a wonderful family, a healthy body, and much, much more. Yet there are plenty of days where I decide that I have nothing to be thankful for. I go hours, days, weeks, without realizing how blessed I am, much less taking 3 seconds to thank God for all the blessings he rains down upon me.

Yet Jesus thanked God for the simple blessings of food, drink, and friends with which to share them. Even though one of them was about to betray him. Even though another was about to deny him. Even though the rest of them wouldn't even take the time to be near him during his time of need. Even though his own mother was going to watch him suffer and die. Even though he wasn't going to live long enough to fully digest his food. Wow.

So today I did my best to be thankful. I started just by thinking about all the amazing blessings in my life (the short list is above). Then, as I drove to work this morning, I thanked God for a beautiful day and for the blessing of work. As always, I thanked him for my food. I even remembered to be thankful for the opportunity to borrow a beachouse and spend the day on the beach--even after the water was freezing and it started to rain on us. I'm going to write out a list of all the blessings in my life and hang them somewhere in the house. Maybe I'll go old school and cut out words from magazines and make a collage. In any case, I want to remind myself of how wonderful God has been to me. Then maybe when times get tough, I'll remember that life is good, and God is great.