Thankful Thursday

Alright...honesty box time.  I got into that selfish mopey place in my head again tonight.  What is it about when the sun goes down, suddenly a switch flips inside you (or at least inside me anyway), and all the bad thoughts and feelings come seeping in, festering and dwelling.  Darkness...night...provides the perfect environment for the sting of loneliness, and doubt to penetrate and linger.

But here I am now....after wallowing for a while...drowning thoughts in a steaming hot shower...and prayer...I remember it's Thankful Thursday, and there's a ping in my heart.  I've been sulking again and forgotten to remember the blessings of the day.  Guilt washes over me, and yet as I sit thinking of what to write about being thankful for...gratitude actually begins to trickle in...

I'm thankful for:

1. The blessings I am seeing in my friends' lives.  (Jobs, and opportunities, weddings, and babies!)
2. The most amazing friends in the entire world!  Friends that challenge me and encourage me; that speak the God's Truth into my life.
3. My incredible Dad! (That I still have no idea what to get for Father's Day....)
4. Employment...
5. Sunshine and warm weather
6. I'm thankful to be done with school and to have the time to read books for pleasure, NOVELS! To watch movies, and to cook!  (I made banana pudding all by myself last night for a cook-out today LOOK!)

Everyone gobbled it all up! (One guy had 4 servings! :D)

7. New days, and new opportunities...always a chance to start over.  I was watching Forrest Gump this weekend (it was on TV...you know you can NEVER resist!) And it hit me one of the biggest reasons why I love that movie and the character.  It's because he embodies the life I strive to lead...the life-style I truly believe humans were created to lead.  You see, in the movie...Forrest goes where ever the wind blows him (hence the feather I think at the end...yes, it probably has to do with Jenny flying away too...but still you watch it fly and catch with the wind).  But Forrest is an open book when it comes to life...and whenever opportunity knocks...he doesn't really think too hard about it...he just takes it...he just does it...he just LIVES!  And he never feels the need to stick with any one thing...nothing is permanent except the love he has for the people in his life...like Momma, Jenny, Bubba, and Lt. Dan; he never waivers in his loyalty to the people he loves!  Anyway, that's a whole lot of talking about a movie, but basically the way Forrest lived in the movie is what I hope to emulate...I want to be an open book, to take in all life has to offer me, to truly experience every season of life, and to do and be everything I can in this world...in this one short...precious life.  And I'm thankful for every knocking opportunity, every change of the wind, every detour, every chance to live life to the fullest.

With that said my friends, I can now say that where there was only moments ago dark, painful, and lonely thoughts...all of me is brimming with gratitude and reassurance.  I was meant for greater things than what lurks in the darkness...