Thankful

As I type my baby is talking to me trying her best not to fall asleep. It's way too late for a five-year-old to be up. But today is a day to throw the bedtime routine out the window and enjoy family. It's a time to enjoy the stories you've heard a million times, but still laugh at just as hard as when it first happened. It's a time to wear your sweat pants and not care about what you look like because you are with family. They have seen you at your best,they have seen you at your worst,and they still love you. Worn out and tired from a long trip and yet seeing the faces of the ones you love make it worth it.

To my mother-in-law I am a daughter-in-love, not an outsider although almost thirteen years ago I wondered how I would fit. Love has a way of making it fit. Don't you just love that?

My heart is overwhelmed with gratitude for many reasons.

I’m thankful for little hands that make big messes and sleepy voices that whisper, “I love you Mom,” just before they fall asleep.
 
I’m thankful for the way my Grandmother smells when I kiss her cheek.
 
I’m thankful for arms that were once empty who daily embrace fulfilled promises of God.
 
I’m thankful for loving so much that it hurts.
 
I’m thankful for laughing so hard that I cry.
 
I’m thankful for friends who share my crazy God-sized dreams.
 
I’m thankful for my husband and best friend who has made me better, stronger, and perhaps a bit smarter.
 
I'm thankful for a mother that still looks at me like I'm sixteen every time I get in a vehicle.

I'm thankful for “other mothers” who nurture and for hearts knit together by God in such a special way.

I'm thankful for the realization that even though I thought I was fine and had everything that I needed, God knew better and sent someone my way.

I'm thankful for a Savior and for a calling to live my life by giving it away. I'm thankful, Heavenly Father, for showing me at such a young age that You are real. You are a father to the fatherless, You are a finder of lost things, You a hovering God who wraps me up and warms me to my core. Oh, how I love You.

My heart is filled with gratitude.