Things to be thankful for

John Piper said, "This is God's universal purpose for all Christian suffering: more contentment in God and less satisfaction in the world".  It is so important to remember this!  Loneliness, suffering, trials...God is working it all out for good.  How kind of him to love us enough to bring us through things like this!  He doesn't just allow it to happen - he is much too powerful for that!  Every single thing that we go through, no matter how small, has already passed through him first.

A friend has recently challenged me to write down 3 things that I am thankful for before I go to bed each night.  It is way too easy for me to focus on the present and the difficulties I am facing, forgetting the amazing faithfulness of God.  He has been faithful and he will be again.  This has been a small but helpful way for me to re-center my thoughts.

Today I am thankful for my boss.  A few of my friends were talking about how their bosses seem to forget they are people sometimes, and immediately I thought, "wow, I've never had that problem!".  Thankfully, I was able to see it right away, and thank God for it.  Although my job isn't glamorous and can get monotonous at times, I am so grateful for a boss who is kind, understanding and caring - I know this is a rare thing.  She is quite funny too...she participated in 'zone-lympics' last summer:
 

Here I am spinning her in a chair before she tries to curtsy in a straight line with her eyes shut...

I am thankful that God's word is unchanging.  The sun might not be shining today, but his promises are the same today, yesterday and forever!

And last and by no means least, I am thankful for my mom!  I can't tell you the amount of times I have called her, or emailed her, or texted her...and she is always there, ready to encourage :).  She is the best!!!