Today I am Thankful for...

  With smells of Thanksgiving brewing in the air, I've decided to follow suit and write about one thing that I am thankful for every day until I can fill my belly to the brim with turkey and stuffing! I know, I'm eight days late to the party, but let's face it, I'm going to be late to my own funeral. So better late than never, right?
 
  I wanted to start today with my husband, or maybe my children, but God inspired me in another way so I will get to them later. Today I am thankful for the deep appreciation of nature that God has blessed me with. Sounds strange, I know. How can you be thankful that you are thankful for something? When you look up the word appreciate in the dictionary, the first definition is "to be thankful or grateful". And I am. I am thankful for the trees and the nice days, like today. But the second definition is what brought on today's subject. "To be fully conscious of; be aware of; detect". Fully conscious of...now that is exactly the words I would use to describe the feeling that stirs inside of me when I stand in God's creations!

  My mom used to tell me about a grandmother she had. Mom said they would be driving along, running whatever errands they had that day, when she would suddenly pull over and yell "Look at that tree! How gorgeous is that tree kids?!" I always think of that story when I drive down the highway and see the multicolored trees glowing in the sun. I want so badly to just pull my car over and stare at them! And I will say the same thing, "Look at that tree!" And my husband always thinks I'm nuts and appeases me by saying "Yes dear, it's beautiful". But it's more than beautiful to me. I don't know how to explain other than to say I am fully conscious of it's beauty. So conscious in fact, that it not only brightens my mood but it makes me feel so in touch with our Creator. He put that tree there. He gave it seasons. And He did it for our utter enjoyment! Don't you think He could've just made one type of never changing tree to provide us the oxygen we need to live? Or worse, He could've bypassed trees all together and just gave us boring old oxygen.

  I know that all of you appreciate a gorgeous day. Today is a great example. It's warm with a fresh breeze, the trees are radiant shades of orange and red. Blue skies stretch beyond the horizon with not one cloud to hide the warmth of the sun. But how many of you have ever sat and appreciated the rain? When it rains at the Ferguson house, you can usually find us in the living room, all the lights out, sitting in front of the window waiting for the crack of the lightening. As soon as the lightening strikes, Cailynne's face will beam as she tells us "here comes the thunder!" I love rainstorms! I am fully conscious of how amazingly ominous and glorious thunder is. Sure it's inconvenient when the electricity goes out, and my backyard is a swamp, but I'm always too overwhelmed with appreciation that God made rainstorms so powerful. He could've watered the Earth anyway He wanted, but He chose to give us rainstorms, and thunder.

  So as weird as it may seem, that is what I choose to be thankful for today. I am so blessed that God gave us His creations, and put a desire in my heart to see the love He has pouring out through a rainstorm, or even a snowstorm. I love the joy I get everytime I go to my backyard and see my tree. Whether it's blossoming pink flowers, shimmering in a thick coat of ice, or just providing shade for my children. I am thankful that I am fully conscious of all of its seasons. I am thankful that I truely appreciate all of God's works, even the ones that are not warm and fuzzy.