Thankful Thursday

 I just wanted to reflect on all that is good in life. It is so easy to get caught up in what is going wrong, what we don't have, or all the injustice that happens to us.

Why do we find it so easy to dwell on the negative, the hurt, the pain? I ask myself that question more times than I care to admit. When I was getting ready this morning, I kept thinking of "defining moments" in life. I began to wonder why it is that we tend to draw on a bad experience to make a defining moment. Why can't a good experience become a defining moment?

 I realized that it's a lot like looking at film. For those of you that remember photography, when you take a picture the "negative" is what is first developed, but in order to see the beauty that you were trying to capture, you had to fully develop the film until the positive photo appeared on the photo paper.


I honestly believe that it is a choice. So today I am thanking God for the defining moments in my life that I once viewed as a bad memory (the negative), but I now see them as good (the developed picture)...

- I am thankful that I lived in many places growing up and met so many people along the way. (I'm a very social person and fit into most social situations)

-I am thankful for the trip to Walt Disney World with my family when I was a teenager. It was the last time I spent time with my Aunt Cindy. (I miss her, and I realize that time is precious)

-I am thankful for my loving friends that pulled me out of the darkness that surrounded me for so long and never giving up on me. (I could have let the depression swallow me and could have given up, because I felt that life would never get better.)

-I am thankful for having God fearing mother who never gave up on her husband or her children. (I remember when my Mom told me that she prays for me everyday. It meant more to me than she will ever realize)

-I am thankful for a husband who loves me for me. (Our courtship was brief, and I was "In Love", but I didn't think I deserve that kind of love. He truly loves me "warts & all")

-I am thankful for 3 beautiful children that are loving, caring, and giving. (After losing 2 children, I am amazed of God's grace. I could have let the lose overshadow the blessings of who I have in my life now)

So, what are you thankful for today? Can you go back into your memories and pinpoint those "defining moments" and find the good in them? Let go of the pain and Live in the knowledge that what happened to you is not who you are.



~Peace & Blessings~
Jen