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November 15 – Today is all about being thankful.  Tell us what you’re thankful for!

When I think of what I’m thankful for, I’m certain I could fill this blog and four more.  There are so very many things in my life that I’m incredibly thankful for.  I’ll try my best to just hit the highlights and not make this horribly long.

First, I’m thankful for being a daughter of the King!  He has had an apparent hand in my life from the beginning.  I’m thankful that I can throw myself in a messy, teary heap at my Fathers feet and He doesn’t judge how big or little my mess is.  He is always there for me, even at times in my life when I wasn’t there for Him.  He never turned His back on me or abandoned me, and I know He never will.

I am extremely thankful for my love, Mr. Cutler.  Oh, how I love this sweet man.  Twenty-three years he’s walked through this crazy life beside me.  I honestly have no idea what I would do without him.  He has taken me to the hospital countless times on a moments notice and never complained once, sleeping in cars so he could still work the next day.  He has sat in many a waiting room during a ridiculous amount of surgeries, even sleeping in one overnight with my babies.  I’m certain he has spent countless hours worrying, but he would never tell me that.  He has taken over all the household chores without hesitation when needed.  He took on so much extra responsibility while my business skyrocketed and supported my choice in closing my business and retiring.  He is always there with a hug and knows the right words to say.  He is truly a very special man and I am blessed to have him in my life.  My sweetest downfall.

I am thankful for having the most amazing, understanding, wack-a-loon, caring, full of love, funny-as-all-get-out (aka pee-my-pants-daily-laughing) babies.  Together we are a far cry from normal but then again, what is normal anyways?  I am truly blessed beyond blessed to have them in my life.  Seriously, they are the best.  Together these people have made me who I am and I wouldn’t be this person if it wasn’t for them.  Thank you so very much for loving me (when I was unlovable) and teaching me (when I was bull-headed) and showing me (when you didn’t think I was looking) all that I ever needed to know.  Today and every day I am thankful that I am a part of this family.

I am so extremely thankful for the most amazing parents ever.  I’m so thankful God decided to give me to them 40ish years ago.  I am so thankful for them showing me what a faithful walk with God looks like.  I am so thankful for the millions and millions of things they do for us daily.  Even a small act like bringing me my mail, keeping Spaghetti O’s on hand for my boy and when they would make sure there is ice cream in their freezer for my littles {and for Pap when Nan isn’t looking, ha}.  They have poured into my littles lives and helped mold them into the amazing people they are today.  The best decision I ever made was to raise my family in the house beside them.  So many times, little legs ran up through the yard to grab a cookie and a kiss.  They would stop whatever they were doing to scoop that little one up and love on them.  Without them, I don’t know how I would have made it through all the sicknesses and surgeries.  They are my rock.  My Mama is my best friend and I wouldn’t want it any other way!

I am thankful for my birth mother, who made the most selfless decision 44 years ago.  If y’all have read my blog for any amount of time, you know exactly how thankful I am for that.  Without that decision, I wouldn’t have had the life I did.  And I’m so SO thankful that God brought our lives back together after so many years.  My adoption was such an amazingly beautiful thing and I love telling the story.  I am truly so blessed to have never once felt an ounce of resentment or anger, to have somehow understood from an early age that it was just right.  To have never questioned it, to never have felt different but instead felt fortunate that I had two sets of parents when most kids only had one.  And most of all to have an adoptive Mother and Father that absolutely supported me in finding my birth parents and understanding why I needed that.  My Mama told me that she never felt threatened by it because she knew she had raised me with enough love in my heart for all of them.  I’ve also have to be thankful for my birth father, even though he walked out of our lives a few years ago {you can read that story here}.  I know God has a purpose and a reason for everything that happens.  And he obviously had a part in my life, or I wouldn’t be here and I’m thankful for his part in my adoption as well.  It’s a perfect example to me of how God has His hands in our lives, even when we don’t realize it. And oh how thankful I am for that!!!

I’m thankful for my friends.  God has truly blessed me with the BEST, most amazing friends ever.  I honestly don’t know what I would do without each and every one of them in my life.  I’ve realized throughout the years that I don’t need a bucketful of friends, all I need is handful of true friends.  How lucky am I to actually have that!  I am completely blessed to have these amazing people in my life.  Two of them have even been there since basically we were babies, bless their hearts.  I don’t know how those girls have dealt with my “Amyness” for that long.  We can go months without seeing each other and pick up right where we left off.  I absolutely adore the sweet, sweet friendship we have together!  So many of my friends I’ve met online, either through scrapbooking or photography.  Lifelong friendships that I treasure!  My handful of friends might each look different, and have different personalities, but I hold each of them close to my heart.  And I know that with one phone call they would be here for me, and I for them.

I am thankful for being a country girl.  For dirt roads and corn fields.  For chicken raising and garden growing.  For the ability to change my own oil, bake up a cake from scratch and put shingles on the roof.  For learning to drive a 1946 John Deere H when I was 11.  For truck pulls and diesel fumes.  For cowboy boots, t-shirts and jeans.  For loving to get muddy and spinning out every chance I get.  For not being afraid to tackle any task while my husband is at work…whether it’s putting new plumbing in the toilet or replacing the thermocoupler on my furnace.  For my Mama showing me how to grow and can my own food.  For my Dad teaching me dirt washes off, how to replace a universal joint, how to mix bondo {which I love the smell of…is that weird?} and how to weld and braze.  For being country even when it wasn’t cool.  There is no place else I’d rather be than in my little Small Town, USA.