Thanksgiving

And we're back to reflecting on all the AMAZING things to be thankful for over the course of a year!! God has been so incredibly good!!

Thanksgiving has always been a hit or miss throughout my life because my American side of the family went all out, but my Asian side of the family did not really celebrate. It's a bittersweet feeling because I'm not that close with my American side and I would prefer my Asian side to be the ones that would go all out for holidays, but that is sadly, not the case. This year is a bit different because I will be meeting my boyfriend's family over thanksgiving and I'm curious to see what an Asian thanksgiving is like! With the approaching holiday, I'm reminded to be especially thankful for all the things I am blessed to have and instead of going into depth about all the things I've been thankful for over this past year, I've decided to list them out because there is SO many! SO here we go...

• God miraculously saved me physically from another suicide attempt which I am claiming will be THE LAST
• God has been healing my heart & mentally giving me the courage to embrace & fight for recovery
• Being in a healing relationship that is showing me the depth of God's love beyond measure
• Living in an environment where everything is provided for
• Learning to live independently both personally & financially
• Matching with a service dog that gets to go EVERYWHERE with me
• Increasing my social circle & support system
• Deepening my faith with not only my personal relationship with God, but within the Christian community as well
• Getting a clean slate with purchasing my own health insurance for the new year
• Healing from trauma & heading toward being able to let go of my biological father & his side of the family
• Helping my mom establish a fresh start of her own that has sparked her own healing journey
• God has been opening doors left & right to provide for me financially & covering medical bill costs
• Opening my own music studio & in-home piano lesson business & gaining so many new students already
• Meeting a piano teacher mentor that will be helping me along my piano teaching journey
• Having an English degree that allows me to be placed on linguist projects for additional income
• Signing a publishing contract for my NEW BOOK, Brokenness Restored: The Path to Recovery is a Healing Journey
• Working as a receptionist in a healthy work environment with such a caring manager & team of coworkers
• Gaining insight & knowledge from random people that God has allowed me to meet at just the right times
• Having loved ones that are deeply involved in my life & offer me constant encouragement & support
• Getting to play worship at my sister-friend's wedding & being the maid of honor in my best friend's wedding
• Making it to my cousin's baby shower in which their child will be the first grandchild in the family
• Networking across all aspects to gain professional connections
• Making progress in all areas of therapy so that I can cut down on the number of sessions that I have weekly
• Learning how to meal prep & cook so that I can now do it for myself
• Having the ability to travel & to go to the beach which is my favorite place of all time
• AND SO MUCH MORE...the list could go on forever...

God has honestly blessed me beyond belief this year and shown me so many things that I never thought would be possible for my life and that I would be capable of being independent and truly living life to the fullest. I hope that this Thanksgiving season, you would take the time to reflect on this past year and all the things you have been thankful for, especially to pinpoint where God has been doing the most work in your life. I would think about the ways that He has provided for you and how He has done the unexpected even in ways that you may not notice outright. I pray that we also practice gratitude throughout the entirety of the year and not solely during the holidays, but nonetheless, I hope that you are able to give thanks with a grateful heart and that you have a blessed Thanksgiving this year!