Thankful, Grateful, and Oh So Very Blessed

Today I am thankful for so much to be thankful for. 

I'm thankful that our message last Wednesday night completely re-inspired and reconstructed this post. 

I've been working on Gratitude instead of Complaining a lot recently. It's really hard. This video by Terri Savelle Foy shared a lot about how complaining delays achievement. 

It really spoke to me, so I've been trying to find things to be thankful for in the negatives. 

For example, I often complain about having to get up at 6:00 in the morning for school, but seriously, that is such a thing to be thankful for. 

I'm woken up by an alarm on my iPhone (that many teenagers wish to have), I walk in my kitchen with a fully stocked pantry and an abundance of food I could eat (that starving kids would kill for), I go to a great school where I learn so much (so many kids wish they could go to school, or learn, or even be safe at school)...Why do I complain about this? 

So, with that being said, I thought on this most thankful of Thursdays I would make a list of seventy-five things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving. The Lord has blessed me in so many ways just throughout this past year, and I have SO so very much to be thankful for. 

1. I'm thankful that I have a lot of things to be thankful for. 
2. I'm thankful for parents who love me and support me.
3. I'm thankful for a loving and supportive extended family. 
4. I'm thankful for my sister who always  brightens everyone's day (unless she's pulling my hair...I mean...) 
5. I'm thankful for the faithfulness of Jesus. 
6. I'm thankful for a home. 
7. I'm thankful for all of the school supplies I use daily. 
8. I'm thankful for many years of friendship with Emma and Mary-Harbin. 
9. I'm thankful for the laughter Baylie, Sarah, and Abby Kate have brought me. 
10. I'm thankful for Bible Journaling. 
11. I'm thankful for my School(s). 
12. I'm thankful for my sweet friendships. 
13. I'm thankful for the sweetest teachers. 
14. I'm thankful for Grey's Anatomy
15. I'm thankful for Doctors. 
16. I'm thankful for people who are serving/ who have served in the military. 
17. I'm thankful for daily selfies with Elle and daily messing around with Amy. 
18. I'm thankful for my Sunday School Teachers. 
19. I'm thankful for my Church and for my Pastor
20. I'm thankful for old teachers who still are willing to help me with things I don't understand (Both academically and personally). 
21. I'm thankful for Joey, Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, and Phoebe. 
22. I'm thankful for the JOY that the Lord gives. 
23. I'm thankful for Starbucks! 
24. I'm also thankful for Heritage House.
25. I'm thankful for Essays that improve my writing (even though my English teacher thinks it's cute to have one due the day we get out for Thanksgiving Break when we already have 26662 tests, 3 projects, 2827262762 notecards to make, and a blog to write. Anyways. Like I said. Gratitude instead of complaint is hard). 
26. I'm thankful for some FINALLY cooler weather.
27. Oooh. I'm also thankful for sweaters!!
28. I'm thankful for God's Word
29. I'm thankful for Medicines that heal people. 
30. I'm thankful that I have clothes. 
31. I'm thankful that I have cars to transport me. 
32. I'm thankful that I'm almost 16. 
33. I'm thankful for my lunch table and the girls I share it with. 
34. I'm thankful for my Ginger Kat. 
35. I'm thankful for service clubs that push me to step out of my comfort zone. 
36. I'm thankful for smiles. 
37. I'm thankful for hugs. 
38. I'm thankful for blankets. 
39. I'm thankful that I have shoes. 
40. I'm thankful for Hospitals. 
41. I'm thankful for God's Perfect plan.
42. I'm thankful for people who changed my life. 
43. I'm thankful for a bed to sleep in. 
44. I'm thankful for a shower to cleanse in. 
45. I'm thankful for Alexander Hamilton (without him we wouldn't have a financial system and no financial system = no shopping soooooo??). 
46. I'm thankful for the History of my country and I'm thankful that I love learning about it. 
47. I'm thankful that I love learning in general. 
48. I'm thankful for my cousins and the joy they bring me. 
49. I'm thankful for my Bible Study Class. 
50. I'm thankful for Planners. Mine keeps my life together. 
51. I'm thankful for the past.
52. I'm thankful for the future. 
53. I'm thankful for sunrises and sunsets. 
54. I'm thankful God's mercies are new every morning. 
55. I'm thankful for Biology (even though it's harder than chemistry, it's still my favorite science). 
56. I'm thankful for elephants (especially the one and only Elephant who has been my best pal since the beginning of time). 
57. I'm thankful for kindness. 
58. I'm thankful that God's thoughts and ways are higher than mine. 
59. I'm thankful that this school year is everything I prayed it would be. 
60. I'm thankful that I have good friends. 
61. I'm thankful for the book Wonder. It's my favorite. 
62. I'm thankful for happiness. 
63. I'm thankful that I can choose joy. 
64. I'm thankful for Algebra. It is the only easy math (Am I right?).
65. I'm thankful for sunshine. And trees. And fresh air. 
66. I'm thankful for Walton's before church on Wednesday Nights.
67. I'm thankful for a super duper fab Youth Pastor and his awesome wife (Sometimes....I don't agree with their Grey's Anatomy opinions). 
68. I'm thankful for daily messages with my cousins and my Granddaddy. 
69. I'm thankful for New York. Gah I love that place. 
70. I'm thankful for Friday Night Lights, Adams' Army & a Great football season. 
71. I'm thankful for heartache. I'm thankful that the Lord picked me up when I was in a million pieces and molded me back together. 
72. I'm thankful for the perfect timing of God. 
73. I'm thankful for His sovereignty 
74. I'm thankful for a Hot Chocolate, Christmas Movies, and Candy Canes. 
75. I'm thankful for Pentatonix's version of "Mary Did You Know." I mean WOW. New Christmas favorite! Everyone should listen!! 

But, here's where the reconstruction comes in. 

Last Wednesday, our message was entitled "I am Thankful" 

He started out my sharing his list of things he was thankful for, similar, but condensed into three main categories. 

He talked about heartache and joy and the goodness of Jesus. He shared that it is Jesus who makes you thankful. 

Which sounds totally confusing yet totally true alone, right? 

Anyways, I feel like it would if you don't know the entire message. 

I'm getting there...bare with me. 

Thankfulness is about being rooted in JOY even when there is pain. It's about choosing joy and chasing the Lord in the hardships. But, If your thankfulness is based on what you have and what you do, then your thankfulness will always be wavering. 

The only way to have consistent thankfulness is to have a consistent relationship with the Lord. 

And listen, listen, listen...

All of the pain you have witnessed can turn into thankfulness because your thankfulness is rooted in a relationship with Jesus not in temporary things.

I look at my list above, and I see so many things that weren't produced by a relationship with the Lord. So many things that are just random examples of temporary happiness in my life. These temporary things will not last. They will fail me. Everything from my family, to my friends, to my Sunday school teachers, and teachers, and pastors, to Grey's Anatomy, to Alexander Hamilton, will fail me. 

But the Lord, his faithfulness, his love, never will.

So today, I am thankful for that most of all. 

I'm thankful for his faithfulness in my life. 

For the times where he picked me up and put me back together. For the healing, for the blessings he has sent my way. 

I'm not saying it's bad to have a list of things you're thankful for, because I am thankful for all seventy-five of the things named, but what is bad is when those temporary things are the base of my thankfulness and if they're taken away, I'm no longer thankful. Ninety percent of the things on that list are temporary.

But the Love of the Lord is not.

His faithfulness is not. 

His perfect plan for my future, and his perfect plan for my past, are not. 

And without his faithfulness, his perfect plan, and his love, most of those other things would not be here either. 

Happy Thanksgiving, Sweet Friends. 

I'm thankful for each and every person who reads this extremely long post! 

October Ninth

Because no Facebook post or Instagram picture could ever sum up how much I love you and treasure your friendship....Not only today, but every single day. Happy Birthday, pals!!

Did you know John Lennon (whoever that is) was born on October Ninth?
And Scotty McCreery, the guy I was in love with as a 10 year old?
What about Bella Hadid?

....Yeah, me neither.
Sorry, Scotty.

But, I did know that today is a special (and scary day...I apologize in advance for my friends' driving, Tuscaloosa) day.

Today, October 9, 2016, is MY BESTIES BIRTHDAYYY (well, a few of them anyways)!!!

I cannot even begin to put into words how much these three mean to me. 

We've shared so many memories: 

C o o k i e  P a r t i e s

Meredith and I at Cookie Party #8...2014:)

Same Cookie Party, different twin:) 

This cookie party was an Emle (Em-LEE) reunion (that's what I'm naming
our friendship, Em).

Cookie Party #9...2016
Meredith, Michelle (It's not her birthday

😜), me, and Madison.

Emma and I decorating Gingerbread Men
Cookie Party 2009 (maybe?)

Same cookie party, same diva.

D i s n e y  P e r f o r m a n c e s

Notice me in the very front, with Meredith wearing a hula skirt
and pink lei, and Madison in a scarf...Fun Times, man.

One of my best gals forever and ever and ever :))))

For some reason this is really grainy...but, hey, Em...
Remember the Tower of Terror???
Talk about Fun Times..
For me, at least.



F a l l

The most fun Pumpkin Patch trip ever!! Who doesn't
love corn cribs and face paint and pumpkins and fall!!??

CRUSHED it (2015)

You're looking at your official Tailgating with the Stars
Photographers..

C o l o r  R u n s

I think I was just worried about my eyes??

Obviously it's the happiest 5k on the planet

Madison, me, Sammi, Abby Kate, and Meredith.

Really good times.

...And so many more

And I am so thankful.

Happy, Happy F I F T E E N T H Birthday, Meredith and Madison.

I pray that this year brings all the happiness and joy to you that 15 has brought me. Enjoy freshman year, and enjoy driving :) I love you both lots and I can't imagine life without you. Thank you for the memories (that I hold so close to my heart), the laughs, and the quesadilla the other night!!! I look forward to so, so, so many more (laughs and mems...and quesadillas too😋). I know that your 16th year on earth will be as sweet as the two of you are!!

and Emma, Happy S W E E T  S I X T E E N!!! It has been so much fun to be your pal these past 11 years. Our memories are some of the best ones I have and I look forward to the future of our palship with a smile on my face as I think of all the good times we've shared. You mean so much to me Em, and I'm wishing you the absolute greatest 17th year on earth. I have a feeling it may be your best one yet!! Thank you for your friendship, E. It's so special. I love you lots, sista!!

"A friend loves at all times."

Proverbs 17:17

To my Teachers

I have no idea where to begin with this. I don't know who will read this or who will ever see it, but here we go. 

Since this whole idea of writing was encouraged by a sweet sweet friend and teacher of mine, I thought I would write this one just for them, my teachers, because no matter what, they will never, ever know how much they mean to me. 

Dear Teachers Superheroes, 

I genuinely love learning, so I genuinely love going to school (shhhh. Don't tell anyone!). It doesn't feel so much like a chore to me. Don't get me wrong, a loud alarm at 6 A.M. is one of the last sounds I ever want to hear, but when learning isn't such a struggle, I truly enjoy it. Learning is so easy and always, always, always fun when the person teaching you loves teaching you. 

I've grown a ton spiritually, physically, mentally, and however else-ally since I've started School (obviously), and I've spent many, many of those days (gazillions it seems) sitting at a desk in your classroom. Some days, I've spent more time around you guys than I have my own family. I've seen the sacrifices you make. Because when you're teaching all day, staying after school to help this struggling student, doing this for this child, supporting the club you sponsor, coaching your team to victory...You are spending more time with us than you are with your own family too...I also just recently found out you have to buy the paper you print our work on (Geez. I feel so bad), and you put up with the rudeness of lazy students who don't care every single day. Thank you for all of that. Thank You for the sacrifices you make so that I can one day impact the life of someone like you have me. 

Thank You for loving us enough to work your hardest always. So often, We don't deserve your hard work, We don't deserve your love. I am so so guilty of this. So often, I sit and gripe and complain about this or that, or how awful this teacher is, or how this teacher did that. I hear what other people say about how they hate your class, or they hate you. I know that you hear that too, and I want to say I'm sorry. So, so sorry. 

I also want to Thank You for your dedication. When I started High School, I was crazy amazed by the devotion I witnessed in my teachers on the first day. Each and every one of them was dedicated to their job, a dedicated to the students they barely knew, dedicated to their school, and most importantly dedicated to The Lord. Thank you for your dedication. 

Thank you for always being there. Whether I needed help with my writing, or with a math problem. Or even if I just needed to talk and I didn't know where else to turn, thank you for listening. That means so much. Because that, you are not paid to do. 

 

Thank You for your Prayers. It truly means more than you know when you pray for me. I have had teachers who would sit there and hold my hand and pray with me about whatever I needed. Those same people and more I knew prayed over us each and every day. I know that has to mean so much to that child that no one else prays for. That light he sees in you by the way you continually share the love of The Lord through your actions, may be the only way he gets to experience God's goodness, His love, and His grace. 

Thank You for my at school closet...Your Classroom. Thank You for keeping my projects behind your desk, or in your closet. Thank You for watching my computer when I had a project to work on and needed to bring it. Thank You for letting me store my clothes I needed for after school. All of it. It means so much to me and my arms. 

Thank You for talking about Grey's Anatomy with me and complementing my projects and coloring sheets. I'm not one bit athletic, but I love to draw and color and write...and I love to watch Grey's. When you take enough of an interest in me to talk about those things, it makes my heart so so happy. 

Thank You for encouraging me to dream and for believing in me every step of the way. Even when I felt totally and completely defeated. When I thought that I was constantly failing The Lord because I was slacking and my grades weren't as high and I told myself I was worthless because I would never be a doctor. You believe in me. And the cool thing about that- You know the grades as well as I did. You know the tests, You know the worksheets, You knew it all. So in that way, that is so so completely different than a parent or a family member believing in me. Because, they don't know the work. You know it forwards and backwards, you know whats ahead. Yet, you will always, always, always tell me I can do it...and you mean it.

Thank You for the Joy your students get to experience in your classroom. I love Joy. Joy is my favorite thing. Because, you can always always choose joy. It's not based upon circumstances, it comes straight from The Lord. Thank you for chasing that for kids that don't know to choose it. Experiencing God's joy is one of the greatest things. 

Thank You, Thank You a billion times Thank You. I try to say that to you often, but I know I don't often enough. Thank You. Because I've seen the sacrifices you make. You do that so one day I have the opportunity to touch someone else's life just like you have mine. 

When I grow up, I want to be so much like each of you (as a Doctor, of course).

I love you lots, 

Elle💚
P.S. I wish I had pictures with each of you, but those that aren't pictured here still hold such a sweet place in my heart.