So Much To Be Thankful For

I was going to do a post about putting up our Christmas decorations and all the meaning to me this year.  And I will tomorrow!  But in talking with a friend today I found this weighing on my mind tonight. 

DISCLAIMER:  THE PERSON MENTIONED HERE DOES NOT AND WILL NOT AT ANY TIME READ MY BLOG AND WILL ABSOLUTELY REMAIN NAMELESS AND GENDER NEUTRAL!!!  :)

In a casual conversation I asked a friend tonight how things were going and they responded "life sucks right now".  So I obviously asked what was going on and their response was "money".  I assumed (and yes correctly!) that it was a LACK of money (who in their RIGHT mind would complain about TOO MUCH money right! HA!).  My only response to this person was "money doesn't make or break life".  This person stated that money does absolutely make or break life when you live paycheck to paycheck!  Well this person was PREACHING TO THE CHOIR about living paycheck to paycheck.

Well, at this moment it suddenly hit that shouldn't this friend and ME as well be thankful that we can pay the necessary bills to live and that we at least have the money to live paycheck to paychek (I of course brought this to my friends attention who disagreed).  But in thinking about being in the midst of a lack of money I added to the conversation "well not having money sucks and is hard, don't get me wrong, but life is more than money."  Again, my friend disagreed.  So I asked "tell me one thing that you are thankful for" and the response I got was "right now, nothing!"  I was honestly blown away by this response.  I was sure my friend would be thankful for family members...but no...nothing.

I then clearly asked if my friend wanted to tell their mother, father, brother ,sister, neices, and nephews they were not thankful for them (simply trying to prove a point that there is SO MUCH IN LIFE TO BE THANKFUL FOR....totally went about this the wrong way probably).  But to much avail my friend asked me how being thankful for their family would make them happy in life.  I was saddened by the lack of....well im plain speechless.

This all just got me thinking about how regardless of our financial status how much more life should and DOES mean to us.  Especially those of us who are Christians.  God has blessed us with so much more than money.  And really we need WAY MORE than money to survive in this world.  I know personally I don't know where I would be with out family and friends!

I am extremely thankful God blessed me first with amazing parents who loved me unconditionally (believe me I tried them!) and who raised me to love God, next for blessing me with an amazing husband who puts up with my crap and loves me so for much more than I deserve, and for blessing me with wonderful inlaws who have truly accepted me as a daughter (trust me we have had our "family" fights too!), and finally and most importantly for the MOST AMAZING little boy who I love more than words can say who blows my mind daily at the things he is learning and the way he is growing.  I am also thankful for the amazing friends (new and old....and too many to list) that He has blessed me with.

We are all truly blessed!