Blessings

Happy New Year everyone! Well, 2009 is here and I've decided to ring it in right. I'm counting my many blessings!

It actually occurred to me at Christmas how truly blessed I am. I'm not saying I didn't know this before, but you know how sometimes, things just HIT you? That's how I felt at Christmas Eve church services.

I'm sitting in the pew with my mom, brother, sister-in-law, and their 3 kids. I absolutely LOVE and ADORE my nieces and nephew. Just ask any of my friends, I can't get enough of them. Kayla and Rylan were sitting with me and I was loving every bit of it. I read them the books in their activity bags and we learned all about Adam & Eve - and why they should NOT have eaten those pesky apples.

As I sat there, listening to the sermon, I was overwhelmed with how blessed I am to have these 3 precious kids in my life. I'm so fortunate to be their aunt and to spend time with them. I love my relationships with these kids. We have so much fun together!

Sometimes I can dwell on what I don't have in my life (most of you know what I'm referring to...), but at that moment, all I could do was just smile and thank God that He put these kids in my life. They are exactly the kids I would have chosen to be my nieces and nephew, if I'd had my pick from all the kids in the world.

This was further solidified when, at the end of the night, my niece Madison said, "When will I see you again?" I told her it would probably be on Kayla's birthday (in a month). She said, "No, I want to see you tomorrow!" How lucky am I?

So, as I thought about the blessing of these 3 amazing kids, it made me look at all the other blessings in my life. I have a wonderful group of friends. Seriously, it's like God said, "Here Mariah, I'm going to give you all the best people to be friends with...there ya go. Have fun!" It's true! I have friends from all walks of life and all parts of my life experiences. They all bring something different to the table and I love them all dearly.

I have the friends I can call twice a day, 6 days a week - you know who you are. I have the friends I run 100s of miles with, I mean that literally. I have friends that I can have deep and meaningful conversations with. I have friends that make me pee my pants laughing every time we talk!

I am blessed with a healthy body that can run and actually LOVES to do it! I just went for an impromptu run outside tonight. Can I just say I was grinning from ear to ear the whole time? Running gives me such joy (most of the time)!

God also blessed me with the ability to sing. I'm not saying I'm good, I'm saying I can carry a tune. I love to sing and it also brings me joy. I feel so at home when I'm singing, whether it's in the car, shower, at church, or while I'm running (yes, I've done it).

I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions, but I think I will at least try to focus more on these wonderful blessings in 2009, rather than focus on what I do NOT have in my life.

May you all have a wonderful 2009 and count the many blessings in your lives!