i am thankful for... (11/27/08)

this is the typical topic. i bet there's a million people writing about this subject this weekend. but it's kind of unifying knowing that people all across the world are thinking of what they're thankful for. so i will write about it. no matter how cliche. i am thankful for...my family and my friends of course. but this year i am especially thankful for the vast number of opportunities i've been given. yes, things have changed. some were inevitable. some were conscious choices. but they've all given me new opportunities. opportunities to lead, to talk, to use the gifts God's given me. to develop gifts, friendships, relationships. yes, i am thankful for my family. but this year i'm thankful for the opportunities i've had to be with my family and they opportunities my family has had to do things. yes, i am thankful for my friends. but i'm thankful for the opportunities i've had to grow with my friends. to talk and deepen our relationships. to really get to know them. now by opportunity i don't necessarily mean experiences, because i may not have seized all the opportunities i've been given this year. but i did seize a great many. and looking back i can recognize the opportunities. and realize i'm blessed to be given these. how many people would kill to have some of the opportunities i've had. so i am grateful. i give thanks. i may not have been happy about them at that point, but now i am grateful. i may have complained and fought and avoided them at all possible costs. i may have cried over missed chances and i may regret choices i've made. but i have grown in the last year because of them. some of them sucked. but they were opportunities to grow. to show strength through pain. and i am a better, wiser, stronger person this year because of them. and i am a more thankful person than i was last year. happy thanksgiving.