What I'm Thankful For

People have asked a lot what I'm thankful for. Pretty much I always give the same answer..."my family". However there is more to the story than just being thankful for my parents and siblings. This year I'm thankful for where I'm born in my family. It's an odd thing to be thankful for, but if you knew how ungrateful I used to be about my position in the birth order you would understand.

Our family goes like this; first came my two sisters than several years later came my 3 brothers, all about 4 years apart. Than when my mom's youngest was 6 when I was born. The oldest in our family was 21 one and just a few weeks away from marrying her best friend. I have absolutely no memories of my older sisters living at home, my other sister was married when I was 2.

I grew older and older, my other brother married and the nieces and nephews began coming in droves. I wished very hard that I had been a twin so there would be a companion for me as my brothers began leaving home. Suddenly when I was 14, I was a only child.

Something that is very funny is that I don't consider myself from a big family because I never remember us all being home together. I always wondered where I should fit myself in, with the nieces and nephews or my siblings? So, I began to long that I was from a "normal" family.

I did that until I saw how silly it was. I realized I had siblings who had far more years of experience than I, so I could could glean advice from them. I even had twice as many siblings because of my siblings in laws. As for little brothers and sisters? I've got 21 nieces and nephews, and counting:)

So that is why in every many words that I'm thankful for being the youngest in a very spread out family. I'm so thankful for God who puts us in just the right family:)

[16] Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalm 139:16 ESV)