Thankful Thursday

I came across this idea at Elle's Studio.  But her Thankful Thursdays started back in October.  I'll just be keeping mine to the month of November.

I am thankful for:

God and His Son, Jesus: 
I would not be who I am today without God or Jesus.  It is by their love and sacrafic that I am a new creation in their image.  I am not perfect in my walk with the Lord, but who is?  But by putting my faith and trust in the Lord, surrendering and living my life for Him, His plans for me will be better than I can fatham.  Even though where I am at now in life is not what I had planned for myself, I know it is His plan, and for that I am thankful.

Family:

For the past almost 3 years, I have had family living across the oceans in other countries.  (That's really why I started this blog in the first place.)  I had one sister and family move to China for work, and a few months later my other sister moved to Germany to be with her husband.  Wow.  Talk about family moving away.  (But my parents and brother and his family are all still in the area.)  Yes, it has been hard. 
But with technology these days, we are able to chat online, webcam/Skype, and even call them 'locally' without it costing an arm and a leg. 
During the years they have been 'away', I have met/talked with some others that have family move away, and are almost upset about it.  For me, how can I be upset with my sisters living their life and experiencing new things?  Sure, it's not fun that we don't get to spend many holidays together like we use to, but the time that we do spend together means so much more.  Instead of taking that time for granted, we treasure it so much more.

Now with my older sister and her family back in the states, I look forward to happily making many roadtrips across the river to visit them.  I will be making a plane trip across the ocean soon to visit my other sister.  And I have made many quick trips to the farm to visit my parents, as well as my brother and his family.
  Whether it's in China, Germany, Afghanistan serving our country, Illinois, or in the middle of corn/bean fields in Iowa, God has blessed me with a great family.  We have also learned to throw our worries out the door, and trust God with our family, even though it is hard. 

Wherever my family may be, I am so thankful for them.

Seasons of Change:

Sometimes change is hard.  But when it comes to the change of seasons/weather, I love it.  If you don't know this by now, I love harvest season fall.  Being the farm kid that I am, this is when farmers see the benefits of all their hard work throughout the year. Plus, how can you not love 'sweater weather'?  Or the crunch of leaves or the joy of playing in them?  Or the smell and taste of pumpkin?  Yup.  I am so thankful for fall.