Anyone who is particularly close to me (and especially my family) will know how difficult I find it to be genuine about anything and how I usually avoid saying what something or someone means to me. I don't know why but I just tend to run away from any kind of real emotion. But there are certain things in my life at the moment for which I am monumetally thankful for. And while I don't agree with communicating anything via the internet that you couldn't express in person (I also find texting particularly annoying), that is exactly what I'm going to do here. So please forgive my complete lack of integrity as I list 5 things that I am incredibly grateful for:
1) My Family. They never hear this but I thank God that I have been blessed with an awesome family: My Dad for his leadership, wisdom and support; my Mum for her grace and compassion; my little sister, Lisa for her spiritual maturity; and Daniel (my younger yet bigger brother) for his talent and his friendship.
2) The Whites. Also known as my family #2, Matt and Christina have allowed me into their home and given up their spare room (something that Christina is very excited about getting back once I leave) so that I have somewhere to call my own. I absolutely love living here and the past couple of months have been a lot of fun.
3) Friends. The past few months I have come to realise that I have some pretty awesome friends. Whether it's partying at old-man Andy's 30th birthday meal or hanging out round a bonfire with friends at Matt and Michelle's I have truly been blessed. I would name them all one by one but this post is already starting to sound like an album sleeve so I'll leave it at that.
4) Chelmsford Salvation Army. It's weird going to a Corps in which my parents aren't the leaders but I have been made to feel really welcome and catered for at Chelmsford SA. I must confess to being pretty wary at first but after the first couple of dinner invitations I came to realise that there's a great sense of community there and I'm becoming more and more proud to call it my church.
5) My Job. Although pretty scary sometimes and always challenging, I love my job. I love being able to meet young people and hang out with Christian teenagers as they tell me about their passions for their respective schools. It's been really inspiring and stretching and...uh...yeah - I love it.
So there you go. 5 things I'm incredibly grateful for.
The End.
