This time of year we all give thanks for all the things that we love and enjoy but I think it’s also important for us to remember to be thankful for our struggles as well. For without the bad, we wouldn’t know just how amazing our lives truly are.
So in that spirit, I wanted to make a list of the not so great things for which I am thankful—not because they themselves are good but because their presences means that other aspects of my life are undeniably wonderful and beautiful.
I am thankful for the long, hard road that is house hunting because it means that I have been blessed with the resources to afford a house, which may people cannot.
I am thankful for the extra ten pounds that I can’t lose because it means I have enough to eat, when millions around the world go hungry every day.
I am thankful for the difficult relationship I have with my in-laws because it means that my husband still has his parents around, when many others don’t.
I am thankful for the times that I struggle with my relationship with God because it means that I am strengthening my relationship with Him, instead of being a blind follower.
I am thankful for the long drive to see my family because it means I can still see them whenever I want.
I am thankful for the days that my job annoys me because without that job I would have never met my husband.
I am thankful for the bad hair days because it means that I am healthy enough to have hair even when it refuses to cooperate.
I am thankful for the days that my husband lets me down because it means I get to demonstrate the meaning of true, conditional love.
But most of all, I am thankful for the good and the bad and everything in between because it makes me who am I—a flawed sinner with a relentless love for and hope in Him and his creation.
