November 1st and 2nd

I shall join in, a day late, on the November Thankfulness fun.  I will be attempting to say one thing of which I am thankful for every day during the month of November.

I'm going to combine November 1st and November 2nd in this one blog.

November 1st-

I am thankful for Jesus.  It is evident every day that the blessings He has given me are way more than I deserve.  Truly, I deserve none of it.  Everything that I am thankful for in my life is in some way because of Him.  Nothing of importance in my life would be possible without Him.  It is amazing how even when I feel like a terrible human being, He loves me.  There is always something that can be learned from Him; always something to model myself after.  I am thankful for my relationship with Him and for His constant guidance in my life.  The most amazing thing about Him is that He gives as much to everyone else as He gives to me.

In my life, there are times when I think, "I just can't give any more of myself today."  I get tired and often have the tendency to want to be selfish and I give into those tendencies from time to time.  Sometimes, I'm just spent thinking that I've been taken advantage of or that I'm giving way more than someone else is.  I am reminded often when I step back and think about all I have, that it shouldn't matter how much I have given or how much I feel someone else has not; I am called to serve and to be a reflection of Him.  I fall short every day, but I am thankful for the gentle reminders of what giving is really about.  He gives, and gives, and gives of Himself without ever asking for anything in return.  This is love and for this example of love, I am grateful.

My calendar for the month of November has this picture and while it is clearly not Jesus (or the Jesus people always put in paintings) it is a great visual of how much Jesus gives of Himself daily. 

November 2nd-

I am thankful for my husband.  There are many petty things about my husband to be thankful for; such as the way he takes my glasses off when I fall asleep reading or the way he opens the car door for me every time we go anywhere together.  Those things and so many other things are wonderful and make me feel very loved; but, I am thankful for much more than that.  I am thankful that my husband is a follower of Christ.  I am thankful that his relationship with Christ drives his choices and actions. 

I am thankful that He is a thinker and that He is critical of himself.  This is not something that many people are great at.  I think it is human nature to first be critical of others and wish that they would change things about themselves.  Kyle is critical of himself more than anyone else and has the ability to see his weaknesses and work on them.

If we are having the occasional argument, he is never rash.  He often will speak so slowly because he really thinks about what he says before he says it.  I am the complete opposite.  I tend to say whatever comes to my mind and in the heat of the moment it can be really snarky and bratty.  The whole time I am being this way I'm looking at my husband thinking, "How is he so calm?"  That's just Kyle.  He is calm, rational, and laid back.  All of these things challenge me because I tend to be irrational and high-strung. 

I am thankful for a husband that makes me want to be the best version of myself and that God placed me with someone who can teach me how to be all the things that I am not. 

Plus, look how insanely handsome he is.  Way out of my league.