I Have You to Thank...

Last year, my favorite blogista, Denyse (like the title I gave you?), wrote for thirty days on the things for which she is most thankful. Of, course, being a blogista, she did this in thirty consecutive days. I, not being a blogista (but an aspiring imaginista), plan to do Thirty Days of Thankfulness beginning now and finishing on Thanksgiving Day.

I've been thinking about this for awhile, but as I close in on three months left in the states before my big adventure in Peru, I'm starting to feel the sadness for some of the things that I have already left and will be leaving behind (at least for a little while). This isn't a bad thing...

I pitched a hissy fit at God a few weeks ago when I couldn't find the black boots that I wanted to wear to church. In a panic, I just knew that I had donated them, along with many of my other beloved shoes, in the spring when I was feeling the urge to purge myself of all of my worldly possessions and set out on my quest to save the world. On that Sunday morning a few weeks ago, realizing that the me in the spring thought that I would forever be able to subsist on Toms, Converse, and flip flops, the me in the fall was angry. I was frustrated with myself... I was frustrated with God... I began to cry... over a pair of black boots... that I eventually found in the attic later that day. But, in that moment when I had obviously lost some perspective, the boots represented all of the things that I was giving up- my house, my car, my job, my kids, my comfort.

Now, of course, I'm back in my right mind (with my boots within view as I type), and I am beyond excited to be going to Peru. Still, I feel like I was given these months in the in-between to reflect on the blessings that I've enjoyed over the last five years... over the last thirty years. So, that's the plan. Thirty Days of Thankfulness. (And, no, I won't be devoting a whole day to the boots... maybe to shoes, in general, though.)