{Thanks}

I'm thankful for a gallbladder that functions at the rate of a 90-year-old woman's...
Because without it, I would wake up each morning and take advantage of what it means to feel "good" inside.

{Source: bucolic beauty}

I'm thankful for mornings spent sleeping in huge X-ray machines and spending quality time with a  surgeon, spilling the beans on all the abnormal symptoms I experience as my gallbladder sends my body into uproar...
Because it means that I have been handed a huge gift.. insurance and doctors who care. To nurses everywhere, your kind words and offer for warm blankets are under appreciated in this world. Thank you.

{Source: bucolic beauty}

I'm thankful for a lease that expires two days after I am scheduled to have surgery in a city four hours away from where I will be posted in my bed, slurping Popsicles for a week...
Because it means spontaneous road trip with two of my favorite people in the world: my parents.

{untitled by Der_Kaiser on Flickr}

I'm thankful we cancelled the moving truck when we thought I would get an extension on my lease and then turns out, we didn't...
Because being responsible to box all my things humbled me to an awareness of what I truly need... and what it means to live in excess.

{via thinknorth}

I'm thankful for having no control over disgruntled landlords, limited time frames, and Dallas traffic...
Because the feeling of complete helplessness reminded me that I have never had full control. One who molded the earth between His thumbs has always held my world in place.

(Source: Flickr / jeffclow, via ofthisland)

I'm thankful for being cramped in the backseat of a pick-up truck for 15 hours...
Because my mother is nestled in the passenger seat and my father positioned at the wheel. I learned that real love means ultimate sacrifice at any cost to yourself for the betterment of someone else. No questions asked.

{Source: google}

I'm thankful for the sun to stretch high over the expanse of sky...
I use this afternoon to soak Vitamin D straight to my bones and get refreshed by the warm summer air.

I'm even thankful I missed a step, tripped, and landed straight in the pool.. iPhone in hand...
Having my phone in a bowl of rice this afternoon is a gentle yet firm reminder that life consists of more than photographs, reading blogs, and scavenging for fresh tweets; that reducing my conversation with the world to text messaging can sometimes make me a touch impersonal. I much prefer writing letters anyway, how did I forget?

Thankful for Poppy, who reminds me that mistakes will always be made, but they help us regain a fresh perspective and proper focus.

There are many opportunities to sow discontentment. Today, I choose to plant thanks.

How my eyes see, perspective, is my key to enter into His gates. I can only do so with thanksgiving. If my inner eye has God seeping up through all things, then can't I give thanks for anything? And if I can give thanks for the good things, the hard things, the absolute everything, I can enter the gates to glory. Living in His presence is fullness of joy- and seeing shows the way in.

-Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts