With a Thankful Heart

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.

  For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.

  Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
   for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.

Psalm 95:1-7

Dear Heavenly Father,

What a year it has been!  So many changes, and all of them wonderful.  I praise You for leading us through and providing for us all the way.  I've been thinking all day about the theme of thankfulness, and while there are many things I'm thankful for, these are the ones on my heart.

Thank You, God, for bringing Kayleigh into our life.  She's only two months old, but her smiles and interactions with us melt my heart.  Thank you for the joy that she is to us, for her safe delivery, and that she is growing healthy and strong.  Part of me wishes I could freeze her this way and keep her tiny always, but the other part of me is excited to see the girl you created her to be.  Please guard her and keep her safe always, Lord.  It may be only a short time that she's been with us, but I can't imagine life without her.  Thank you for entrusting her precious heart to us!

Thank You, Lord, for my Handsome Man.  Our love for each other deepened this year as we prepared for the birth of our little one.  The way that he cared for me while I carried Kayleigh made me feel so loved, and the way he coached me and cheered me on during Kayleigh's birth made me realize even more that You chose the perfect teammate for me.  Seeing him with Kayleigh fills my heart with love to the bursting point.  He is such a wonderful dad!  What a blessing he is to me.  Thank You for the 5 years that we have loved each other, and for the 3.5 that I have been his wife.  It's a wonderful life!

God, I'm so thankful for family.  Thank You for the family that I grew up in, for the family I married into, and for the additions to our family this year.  I love seeing Kayleigh with her grandparents, uncle and aunts.  They adore her so much, and it makes me so thankful that she is surrounded by so much love!  Thank You also for the addition of Megan, my brother's beautiful bride of three weeks.  We have all loved her ever since the first time Jon brought her home to meet us, and we praise You for finding the perfect helpmeet for him!  Thank You for my newest sister.  She is a blessing to us!

Thank you, God, for our new home, and the friends that it brings us closer to.  It was really hard to leave the beautiful yellow house that Jesse and I lived in for the past three years, and even though it's been a challenge to go from such a big house of blessings to an apartment that is half the size and twice the price, we know You've worked wonderful things through that change.  Thank You for the blessing that house was for our first three years of marriage.  Thank You for the friends who provided it for us, and for all of the memories Jesse and I cherish from our days of living there.  But thank You, also, for giving us the ability to move closer to our church, and for the fact that Jesse can ride his bike to work and come home for lunch sometimes.  We are so happy to be so close, and have been so blessed to be closer to our friends!  Thank You SO much for having Tyler and Stacey, and Jon and Kayse within walking distance of our home, and for having Chris and Jenny, Emanuel and Cassandra, and Matt and Emily all within a five minute drive.  It's so wonderful to be able to call them up and have them over any night of the week instead of having to factor in the 30 minute commute to our old house.

You are always so good to us, God, even when we don't deserve it.  Thank You for providing for us, for keeping us safe, and for surrounding us with so much love.  We praise You for it!

Your child,

Bethany