I am thankful for...

Yesterday, I was reading this book excerpt/blog called You Don't Know Jack about a baby born at 23 weeks, and got the idea for this post. Although this baby was one of the lucky ones that lived against all odds, despite the fact that he was born 17 weeks early, it really made me stop and think about how thankful I should be for everything in my life. While, yes, it looks like this little boy has overcome so much and is doing great, can you imagine having to go through 4 or 5 months in the NICU and surgery after surgery on your tiny baby? And when I say tiny, I mean tiny. He was born weighing only a little over 1 pound. I know that everything happens for a reason, and that something great is going to come out of all of that little boy and his family's struggles, but I just can't imagine having to go through it. All of the people I know of who have had micro preemie babies have more faith than you can imagine. Rather than being mad or angry about their situation, they seem so positive and strong. I only hope that I can be half the mom that these moms seem to be. If you want to follow, here are a couple of other stories of people I went to college/high school with who had micro preemies. One actually had triplets. Anyway, here are the links if you are interested: Boland Babies and Baby Pierce.


Back to the reason I wanted to do this post....


I wanted to write a post about the big things in life that I am thankful for, because I think it is really easy for me to get caught up in the thinking that "I wish I had the money for this, or I wish I had the money to do that". It never takes too long before I realize that no, I am not well-off by any means, but I have EVERYTHING that I need. I have a roof over my head, a car to drive, clothes to wear, more than just basic necessities for Baby Anderson, and we are all healthy. So, in light of all of that, I wanted to take the time to name all of the things that I thankful for and unfortunately take for granted more than I should.

1. I am thankful for my wonderful husband. This day in age when so many people get married for the wrong reasons and the divorce rate is so high, I am so thankful to be in a marriage where I know I made the right decision. Yes, we may argue about petty things sometimes and our marriage is not perfect, but I know that it doesn't get much better than we have it. And no, I don't mean that in a materialistic way, I just mean that on a happiness level. I really am so lucky, because I know that he would do anything to make me happy.


2. I am thankful for my wonderful family. The older I get and the more I am exposed to other family dynamics, the more and more thankful I become of the way I was raised. No, it wasn't prefect. I'm not saying that by any means. My parents divorced when I was in 5th grade, but some how I still manged to get a more normal childhood than a lot of people, and for that, I am so grateful. It absolutely baffles me how some families treat each other and I really hope that I can take a lesson from my mom and raise my kids the way I was raised. I know I am a little biased, but as the years go by I realize just how blessed I am to have the parents I have and to have a family like mine.

3.  I am thankful for everything God has provided Tra and I with. I know I have blogged about it before, but we pretty much live paycheck to paycheck without too much extra fun money after all of our bills are paid. I have to idea how we have managed to pay the few thousand dollars we have already paid so far for things that come along with having a baby. The money just always came from somewhere when we needed it.

4. I am thankful for such great friends. I think there will always be an occasional bit of pettiness when it comes to girls, but I know for me, I have a handful of girlfriends that would do anything for me. They already have done more for me than I can ever repay when it came to my wedding and baby showers, etc. I am truly blessed in the friends department. 


5. I am soooo thankful to have had an uneventful, healthy pregnancy so far. I know she isn't here yet, but I can't tell you how great it feels to have carried this baby girl to almost 36 weeks. I know anything could happen, but at this point if she were born, she shouldn't have any major complications, which is such a relief. However, I am still praying for a healthy last few weeks of pregnancy and safe delivery for me and baby. Also, while on that note, I am so thankful to have gotten pregnant so easily. I worried for months before getting pregnant that I wouldn't be able to. Why?  I don't know, but I did. There are just so many people out there who try and try and it never happens for them. I thank God that I was able to.  

There are obviously many other things that I am thankful for, but these are the main ones. Sometimes, I think we all just need to be slapped back into reality and realize what really is important. Health and happiness is what really matters, not the materialistic things. I know for me, sometimes I just need to see or hear what other people are going through to make me stop and realize just how great I have it and how thankful I should be.