So Thankful...

On this Christmas Eve I've found myself very thankful for the gifts that God has given me; even more than the physical presents that are under the tree.  

I've been having a hard time with my faith lately.  Even though I know in my heart that during hard times I need to turn to God, a lot of the time, I turn away from Him when things don't go my way.  I start questioning myself, my daily intentions, and whether or not God loves me.  Sometimes I just need to have a little more faith; in God, in myself, and in the life that He has chosen for me and my family.  Sometimes it just doesn't work, the trying to convince yourself of these things, so I turned to an outside source; for me it was my priest.  So today, I'm thankful for him and the words he's spoken to me.  Instead of viewing myself as selfish and ungrateful, I know that desiring something for my life, can be very unselfish.  The desire to find my path is not selfish; it's part of being a human.

Today, I was able to spend the day with my family and enjoy a day off from work.  Christmas day is another day off.  Granted, no money, but I'm so grateful for the tradeoff of family time.  The homily at midnight mass spoke to me, especially after a previous talk with my priest, and I have a new sense of renewal on my outlook on things happening in my life.  Prayer can be a powerful thing.

My brother came home for Christmas Eve and my family and I enjoyed a night filled with eating, exchanging presents, and talking about how old we're all getting; this was concluded by us taking our blood sugars and blood pressures.  I'm not kidding.  Mine was pretty dang good: 91 for the blood glucose and 110 over 64 for blood pressure- I guess I'm not falling apart yet!  But this was our laugh out loud moment of the night, man, age is just creeping up on me, if this is what we find entertaining!  Well, that and 24 hours of a "Christmas Story"!

I can't wait to enjoy Christmas day with my hubby (his first time off since we've been together!).  The day has already started off great and I can't wait for it to end with us cuddled up on the couch watching "It's a Wonderful Life."  No other movie could be more telling.  

I'm thankful for all my blessings this Christmas.  I hope you enjoy the same happiness and find your own moment of sanity when the shopping is done and all the presents are finished being opened.  Remember Christmas and keep the reason for it in your heart.

Merry Christmas!