Thankful Thursdays

Thankful: Gratitude, appreciation, or thankfulness is a positive emotion or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive.

I was looking back to the last time I posted "Thankful Thursday" on my blog (June 26) and I realized I have a lot of thanking to do. So, here goes:

1) I am thankful for my husband. He has been so supportive and wonderful to me during these last months since the miscarriage. He hasn't once looked at me like I am the bad kind of crazy for being so emotional and requiring lots of loves. He gave loves freely and let me cry on his shoulder. He loves me when I'm being quirky crazy or crazy weepy! He is the best husband ever! I feel very blessed to have him in my life. :]

2) I am thankful for great, supportive friends. I have had so many emails and calls expressing love and support over the last few weeks and months. It's amazing how people really come through for you in time of need. Even the people who said they didn't know what to say but that they loved me, really touched me. Sometimes you don't even need advice. You just need to know people are there for you and care. It's amazing how different people help in their own special way, each being so helpful! And to those who shared their experiences and cried with me, I will never forget how you opened up and shared your pain with me. It made me feel like I could share mine with others. So, thanks to you all!

3) I am thankful for my Book Club. We read The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis this month and I learned so much! It really opened my eyes to things I need to change and ways I can be a better person. It's amazing what we can learn when we step outside ourselves and venture into the literary world.

4) I am thankful for the gospel and an eternal perspective. The last few years have been some of the hardest of my life. I have lived through so much death...my Dad, my sister, my little babies. If I didn't have the gospel in my life, I think these things would have crippled me. But the knowledge that this life is only a small part of a much bigger plan for us brings me so much hope and joy! I miss them like crazy but I also am looking forward to the day when I will see them again and be greeted with some serious hugs and kisses! That will be a glorious day! :] Until then, I need to have faith and keep working. I think of what Dory from Finding Nemo said, "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming swimming swimming..." That's what I need to do.

5) I am thankful for the temple and for being married forever to my sweetheart. There is no better place in the world to calm your soul and bring peace to your heart. Also, there is no better person to be there with than your eternal companion. I talk about how these last few years have been some of the hardest of my life. Along with that, they have been some of the happiest. It's strange how this can be. I think the Lord blessed me to find Michael when I did because He knew I needed his strength, wisdom and love to help me through it. Being married in the temple to Michael has brought so much joy to my life. I am so grateful that he is mine and I am his forever! Like he always says about the day we met, "Best barbecue ever!"