Family: Day 4 of 30 Days of Thanksgiving

"I thank my God every time I remember you." Phil. 1:3 

Today I'm focusing on being thankful for my family. We wouldn't even exist but for our parents and the grace of God. I'm blessed with parents, brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws and some very close friends who feel like family. I'm so thankful for and love each and every one of my family members!

This post would be crazy long if I gushed about each one individually so I'll just say a bit about each of my core family members (the ones I grew up with, below) and suffice it to say that I love every member of my family and my family's love means so much more than I could ever put into words. Thank you all for loving me.

What a blessing it is to know they love me no matter what I've done, how weird I've been or how differing our viewpoints may be. There's so much to admire about these wonderful, strong, amazingly (yet differently) talented people!

• Dad - thank you for all you sacrificed to raise us; thank you for your wise advice that led me to chose Ben as my husband and informed other major life changing decisions; and thank you for still letting me call you anytime with questions and for your support with my health challenges.
• Mom - thank you for being an amazing example of Christian love, truly living what you believe, and answering God's calls to service that have led you all around the world; thank you for your constant prayer support; and thank you for all you sacrificed to raise us.
• John - thank you for being my best friend when we were little; thank you for teaching me how to have fun (I'd surely be even more boring without your influence!); and thank you for being so good to our parents (especially helping Mom with middle of the night car break downs).
• Joshua - thank you for my first marriage proposal (what a special memory!); thank you for being such a wonderful man of God (you were the most well behaved child I ever knew!); and thank you for your prayer support and willingness to let me call you anytime. 

One family member even has a birthday today so that makes it even more special to focus on being thankful for family today. May God bless every member of my family, and may He bless you and yours!