Good morning everyone!  I hope you’re day is going great so far, I know mine is.  I’ve already gotten a few things done around the house (including organizing my closet because it was a wreck!) and I’m still going.  It’s not even noon yet!

I’m taking today to be grateful for the simple things in my life, and I’ll explain why after the list.

I’m Grateful for…

• This home I live in and the fact I have a roof over my head and a bed to sleep in at night.
• The food in this home.  It might not be gourmet food and home-cooked meals every night, but I’m always fed.
• The things I do have.  Honestly, I do have more than some people.  Just because some of my stuff (electronics) might act up once in a while… I still have those things when others don’t.
• Clothes.  I’m thankful that I have clothes to wear each day.
• My people.  I am grateful for and love every single person who has ever stepped into my life.  They are beautiful people and we might not always see eye-to-eye, but I can’t imagine a life without them and their existence.
• The weather.  New England has had some awesome weather lately, and I’m loving it.
• The honey-crisp apples my mom bought and that they were on sale!

Why so grateful, you ask?

No, not because Thanksgiving is this month… though I’m thankful for that too.  I mean, family, food and football?  Who isn’t thankful for that?

Anyway, I follow Ember Grey’s blog and she does a Grateful Heart link-up regularly and I think it’s a great one to join.  We all have something to be grateful for, even in hard times.  I’ve personally had some ups and downs lately, but I’m pushing those bad feelings aside and focusing on the good.  I know that God has a plan for my life and He’s laying down the path for me.  I also came across a verse today that really hit my heart and convicted me:

“Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.” – Philippians 4:11-12

I knew this was God telling me to be content with where I am in life right now.  I’ve been a little bitter about the fact I have not found a job in my field of choice yet and that everyone else has seemed to gotten one.  I was just talking with my mom last night and realized that I need to be happy with whatever job I end up with.  A job that isn’t in my field could possibly be God’s plan for me.  I could meet someone who is looking for a freelancer (which is something I really want to get off the ground).  Or He might be setting me up to move to a new location and doesn’t want me in a job up here only to leave after a few months.

The thing is, I don’t know what God’s plans are for me, but I trust Him.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” – Proverbs 3:5-6

Of course, being bitter about where I am right now isn’t going to help me.  It’s only going to hinder me.  While I’m down here griping about how my degree is going to be a waste God’s just sitting up there like, “Get with the program Tabitha!”  I need to be content where I am and thankful for what I have now before God will carry out the next step in His plan for me.  

If I can’t be thankful for where I am now, how can I expect God to bring me to the place I truly want to be?

Not that that’s a reason to be content with where I am.  Nothing will happen until I’m truly content… so content that I wouldn’t care whether God wants me where I wanted to be or not.

I just need to get better at knowing that God doesn’t follow my timetable.  He follows His timetable.  He’s just waiting for me to get my butt into gear and be ready for His plan.