Thankful

This whole blogging thing is a great idea. I know this is only my second one ever, and probably very few people (if any) have read it, but I really enjoy it. So, today's blog is about my mom: the one woman I admire more than anyone; my niece Grace: the most beloved child born who bring me SO MUCH JOY; and my brother Matt: a truly wonderful guy who is so close to my heart, and even though there may not be a lot of words said to do it, he brings me back to myself just by being him.

Every time I come home it seems like I forget how refreshing it is to be around my family again. They really are the most important people in my life. I've only been home since this morning, and I already feel better about my world. I don't really know what it is, but as soon as I leave Columbia and get back into Greenville, things in my head that were so cloudy before become clear all of a sudden. Well, really, I do know why that is. It's because of my mom and Matt. And Grace, in her three-year-old ways of clearing things up, which in reality is simply put: circular logic.

My mom is incredible. I know a lot of people say that about their mom and really mean it, but I want to be just like her in all honesty. I watch her doing every day things and doing things that change the lives of people, and all of it amazes me. Tonight, we had another one of our insanely ridiculous conversations that goes off on very scattered topics that don't tie together to anyone else listening (they make perfect sense to us), and as we talked about things that weren't even pertaining to situations in my life at the moment, I felt like I was getting insight on those situations just by watching her and laughing with her. She is so wise, and she really does always know the right answer and what's best. With every single thing I've ever gone through, the things she has said have always been right on the money. And, she's one of the very few people who gives me the right to be wrong (I've been listening to Joss Stone a lot lately). She lets me be wrong about things sometimes to let me live my life and discover how dumb I am sometimes, but she always is there to help mend my heart from the mistakes. As I watched her tell me about how she keeps telling her children's church class that a PG-13 topic to talk about is cranberry sauce because it is a mature food to eat (she's crazy), that she had to go to the grocery store at the last minute tonight just to get some so she wouldn't let the kids down, and that the kids all laugh at her jokes because they are completely on the 3rd-6th graders' levels, I was reminded how blessed I am to have her to watch. God uses her to let others be used, and she is completely fine with not getting any credit for the things she does. She thinks it's great that I have fun with life and don't take things as seriously as people try to get me to, and I love that! She is the woman that I hope to be one day.

So, I guess God is showing me this at the perfect time. Thanksgiving, a time to be thankful for the things and people around me. And today, He has reminded me exactly why I should be thankful.