It’s so hard to believe that we are quickly approaching Thanksgiving. It feels as if we just started 2018 two days ago, but yet the holiday is only just a few days away. I don’t have a clue how this happened so fast. Time has a way of blurring it all together. One day quickly fades into another and another and another until we’re looking into the lens of a new year. Time doesn’t stop. It just keeps moving forward.

I am thankful for so many things. If I were to write about all of those, you would be reading for several hours, and that would just scratch the surface. There are so many blessings in our lives that we aren’t even aware of. So many things that God does for us that go unnoticed because we are just too busy or aren’t paying attention to even realize just how blessed we are.

So God has led me to focus on one thing in this writing. Other than my relationship with God and the beautiful gift of friends and family, this one would have to take a close second. This blessing has been in the works for quite some time, and it’s taken many days of prayer, seeking God, and healing to be able to experience it. It’s one that I don’t take lightly or take for granted. It’s been a work in progress day-in and day-out.

What is this beautiful blessing that I’m so thankful for? It goes something like this. I love my life. It’s taken me so long to be able to say this. I’ve faced some really dark, discouraging, and depressing days in my life. I’ve been in a pit so deep that I never thought I would ever get out of. There have been days that I didn’t want to live. There were days that I never thought I would recover from what at the time seemed the worst thing that could ever happen to me. I know what it feels like to hit rock bottom and think that life wouldn’t ever go on. In my eyes, life was over for me, but was I wrong. In fact, my life was just beginning because God was using all of the bad and ugly in my life to shape me into a brand new version of myself that I never knew ever existed. I never had a clue just what a beautiful journey this was going to be. I can say that now, but not on those first days when everything was so raw, open, wounded, and exposed. When everything felt off, wrong, and hopeless, God saw just what He was going to make it all to be. He was hand-crafting a masterpiece with my life.

What do I love about this beautiful life that He’s given me? Sharing this journey in relationship with Abba Father. Special times spent with family and friends sharing stories, laughing together, crying together, & doing life together. Getting up everyday going to a job that I love. Being a part of a church family that truly is my spiritual family. Sharing my music, writings, and encouragement with others.

I can finally say after several years of trying and difficult circumstances, I am so excited about my future. There was a day that I couldn’t say that. I am seeing God do so many things that are greater than I could even ask, think, or imagine, and He’s just getting started. I know that He has so many more wonderful things in store for me. So much changes when we allow God the opportunity to come in, heal us, and set us free from hurt, pain, and heartbreak. The worst thing has now become the best thing because it gave God the open door to do a miracle in my life. Oh the beauty of our valleys, deserts, and wildernesses!

My prayer for you this Thanksgiving season is that you will be able to love your life, too. God wants to do the same thing with you. He wants you to enjoy this beautiful gift of life that He’s given to you. So as you’re enjoying your turkey and dressing with friends and family this holiday season, look around you and see just how much you are blessed. Blessed more than you know!