Thankfulness Thursday IV - Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! ♥

Per usual, it's been a quiet Thanksgiving around here, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Thanksgiving for us always begins with watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and is followed with spending the rest of the day with family and way too much food. We've started to get Christmas decorations out, and I think that it's safe to say that the holiday season is officially in full swing. Despite the fact that I've been listening to Christmas music since August for my dance classes, it feels like the season snuck up on us so quickly this year, but I'm ready to throw myself headfirst into the Christmas preparations. Thanksgiving always feels like the calm before the storm, a day to rest and reset before the final stretch of the year, and I kind of love it. 

For last year's Thanksgiving Thankfulness Thursday post, I talked about what I was thankful for over the course of the past year, and I decided to continue the tradition. It's always nice to take a step back and look at the big picture of it all, don't you think? 

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When I think over everything that I'm thankful for from 2018, the main theme that comes up over and over again is that I am just so ridiculously grateful for the people in my life. Every single one of my favorite memories is near and dear to my heart entirely because of the people involved. On top of the amazing family that I already have, Jesus has given me the best "adopted family" I could have ever asked for, and I'm so grateful for all of the pieces of home that I have scattered in every direction. I so don't deserve such wonderful people, but I love them with my whole heart. 

I am thankful for theatre, and the massive gift that it is in my life. It's not an easy art to love, but it's been the thing that has shaped me more than any other, and I wouldn't want to live in a world without it. I'm so beyond grateful to now not only love it, but have the opportunity to have a job in it as well. I'm so grateful for people who believe in me enough to give me the chance to do what I love.

I am thankful for the internet, and for the community that we've created here. Even when life is crazy and steps back have to be taken, I always return to this space so grateful to have somewhere that we can all do what we love surrounded by some of the most incredible people on the planet. Through the internet, I've gotten to know people with incredible drive and ambition and dreams, people who are creating SUCH COOL THINGS, and who also make the absolute best friends. People who pray for you and encourage you, people who always make your day brighter and who help you when you feel like you're drowning. You guys are such a bright spot in my day, and I love you all so much.

I am thankful for senior spring, and the wildly beautiful ride that it was. It was so hard, but amidst the stress and the overwhelm, it was a season of grace upon grace upon grace.

I am thankful that while we live in a world that's so messy and screwed up and broken, we also live in a world that has sunsets and music and art and warm blankets and all of the wonderful little things that make the mess a little more bearable. I'm thankful for simple bright spots in the midst of mundanity, and for the fact that they leave room for optimism when it's not immediately the easiest to find. 

Primarily, I am thankful for a God who continues to teach me new things every day, who cares about every detail of my life and answers prayers in ways I would have never dreamed of. Over the course of this past year, I have seen prayer after prayer answered, and I am consistently overwhelmed with gratitude for that. I'm grateful for His consistency, patience, and love, His goodness and His faithfulness, and for how He has blessed me a thousand times over what I deserve. 

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Thankfulness Thursday Friends ♥

Keira -- Close to Nothing

Vanessa -- Simply Me

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In case you missed it...

Thankfulness Thursday I

Thankfulness Thursday II

Thankfulness Thursday III

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What are you thankful for this year?