Today I'm linking up to Lisa-Jo, aka gypsy mama, who chooses a topic every Friday and writes for five minutes.
Only five minutes.
And the rule is that whatever she writes about in that five minutes is what she posts. No editing her thoughts.
Today, her topic choice is "Grateful…"
So I'm going to set the timer, write some thoughts, and then I'm going to stop.
Ready? Set. Go.
::
It's what I've been thinking about tonight as I lay here with my thoughts. As I've rested here and thought about family gathering together at my parents' house to remember all that happened a year ago. As I think about losing my dad, as I think about not being with my family, as I think about my own life and what's ahead. As I try to peer into the unknown future trying to catch a glimpse of what I'm supposed to do and who I'm supposed to be.
In all of that, through all of that, every time I open my lips to speak to Him I can only speak of how grateful I am.
I am so grateful I have the dad I do. I'm so grateful that I was a young girl who grew up to know she was loved by her dad and never had to search for that love in anyone who didn't value her.
I am so grateful I have a dad who brought laughter into every single day and brought tenderness into every single hurt.
I am so grateful I have a dad who taught me faith by his example and taught me trust by the steps he took.
I am so grateful that my family is together to honor him and am so grateful that he will be remembered in their laughter and their tears and their memories.
I am so grateful that I know God well enough that I can trust His design for me even in a future that is beyond my sight, and I am so grateful that the same God knows me well enough to always provide exactly what I need exactly when I need it.
I am grateful for the blessings that always come out of pain. I am grateful for the people and the friendships and the soul-embracing moments that can only come from shared experience.
I have been given so much and I have treasured so much and I have lost so much.
And I am so grateful.