be thankful for everything I have

My sister and I didn’t plan any of this, but we were pregnant around the same time, with our first babies. Though we lived in different parts of the country, we shared our pregnancy experiences with each other. Our babies were born nine days apart. And, we continue to be quite close, talking about our babies and struggles as first-time parents. Love it!

Where do I start? Well, here I’m thankful for Manda, Junko, Marilyn, Tom Pearson and his wife Jackie Michel, many (other) people in our church family. I’m thankful for many of my out-of-town friends: Christine, Cami, Abirami, Karen Esterl, Haiying, Tonya, Phyllis, Chrissy . . . ohmygoodness, I can’t list all the friends for whom I am thankful because there are too many people.

Wow, by looking at Isabella today, no one would ever know she once fought dearly for her life, in the first week to ten days of her life. She took awhile to gain some real weight. But, I stuck vigilantly to breastfeeding, and now, I get lots of comments about how chunky, healthy, beautiful, and sweet our baby is.

lately, i’ve been worried about having a job for the next academic year. i’m worried about my hubby having a job for the next academic year. i’m worried about how we’re going to pay bills and afford a place to live, if we don’t have jobs. i worry about not having a tenure-track position or the promise of one. instead, i should spend more time and energy being thankful for what i have and trusting that the Lord will provide.