It's Thanksgiving!

It only takes a holiday for me to go, "WOW! I haven't blogged in over 20 days!" hahahaha. But I just wanted this to be a "What we're thankful of"-blog, so here we go!

- For my God, who for some reason loves me unconditionally, gave His Son's life for me, showed me mercy and grace in times where I clearly didn't deserve it, blesses me when I don't return the favor, and gently speaks to me through His perfect word.

- For family and friends. All of them. From close and extended family to best friends and people you only chat with once-a-month. All the same, the people are in our lives and that is something to be thankful for.

- For my dog, Honey. Isn't she CUTE?!

- For food, water, and various other drinks.

- For a roof over our heads, air conditioning during the Summer and heat during the Winter, blankets and pillows for comfort, and a working shower and toilet (You don't know how much you'll be thankful for those until you don't have a working one).

- For clothes. What a gift to be able to cover and warm ourselves all day long.

- For pens and paper, because some phenomenal people have been able to write wonderful words of encouragement, poetry, short stories, epic tales, and commentaries that we would be without today without writing utensils and paper.

- For music. All kinds. There is truly so much talent out there, and just being able to hear God's gift in other people's lives is awesome.

- For means of contact; Email, snail-mail, telephones/cell phones, blogging, Skype, Facebook, etc.

- For different nationalities and cultures, because seriously, if everyone were the same, this world would be rather boring. Also, for languages. There are so many beautiful means of communicating around the world, and English is only one language to do it.

- For children, because they are the future (And when you get old, you best know they'll be taking care of you!).

- For TV and movies (Of which I know I might watch too much here and there).

- For games (Of which I might do the same. hehe).

- For hot tubs, because they feel SO nice after a long day. hahaha.

- And lastly, but not the least (At least for me. hahaha), I'm thankful for sweet tea! Oh, what would a Southern state be like without the comatose-inducing sweetness that is Southern sweet tea?!

It truly is a day to think about all the things we are thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

He's President. The End.

So Barack Obama won in a landslide last night (Who seriously didn't see that coming?), which means America has truly overcome a major racial barrier by electing a black man as president of the United States. I'm honestly very proud to be an American on this day, because I've always assumed that racism and hatred for one's fellow man would always continue. Despite that still being true, with 70ish% of the voters yesterday being white, I can guarentee that a good number of those people overcome some hatred during this past year or two. And for me, that's something to be proud of as an American.

Now, if you're thinking I voted for Obama, I didn't. I'm just boldly stating that he is the president-elect, and that's just where we are as a nation. I respect the man for what he's done and how hard he's worked to get to where he is. And there's one thing I can be sure of, he's got a whole lot of mess on his plate when he steps into office.

I've been reading 1 Chronicles in the Bible, and God has been showing me some beautiful truth through the history of His people. I've read the names of people I know truly loved God, and I've read the names of people I know who turned away from Him and did some of the most defiling acts in the Old Testament. However, these men are still related. And not only that, God used both of them equally for His plan. The outcome of their lives may have been significantly different, but it's a sure sign of knowing that the LORD is in control. Coming to terms with that, Barack Obama winning the election doesn't bother me at all. Apparently, God has a plan for him as leader of this country, and what I am called to do is to respect my governing authority. And in this case, it is Barack Obama. Whether we like it or not.

Again, I do want to say that I'm proud to be an American, and seeing the racial barrier coming down more and more is not only encouraging, but a true blessing to see in my life time.