Day 28: Count Your Blessings

Hopefully by now you have begun to add some elegance to your home in simple, but significant ways.  Perhaps you've organized a little better, or put together your own home binder, or ironed your pillowcases. Sometimes as we do our housework, we find ourselves wishing for things to be a little better, easier, bigger, faster, etc.  For example, the other day I was wishing that our laundry room was a brighter and bigger.  Alex (my husband) quickly pointed out that at this house I could do laundry at any point during the day whereas in our old house I couldn't because the dryer would heat up the house if it ran.  And during the summer our laundry would back up so bad because I didn't want to make the house too hot.  Just a little example of how I lost sight of my blessing with my new laundry room.

I'm challenging all of you to sit down with a paper and pencil and write out your blessings.  Set a timer for 5-10 minutes because you could easily go much longer.  List all the blessings that come to your mind.  Look for the hidden blessings as well.  Yes your child might be sick, but that gives you lots of cuddle time with him or her on the couch!  Here is some of my list.  Some of them might sound silly to you, but they're important to me.

1.  Being a child of God
2.  Having a husband that works hard to provide for our family
3.  I'm able to stay home with my girls all day
4.  My girls are healthy and happy
5.  We have no car payments
6.  Live in a beautiful state with lots of outdoor activities
7.  Wonderful friends
8.  Central AC for those hot summer days
9.  Heat for those cold winter nights
10.  A wonderful loving church family
11.  Supportive and loving parents
12.  My health
13.  Ability to live close to my parents
14.  A nice vacuum (I know silly, but I love it!)
15.  A washer and dryer (I'm so glad I don't have to tote our clothes to a laundromat)
16.  A nice big backyard with beautiful green grass for my girls to run in.
17.  My husbands job
18.  My job
19.  My home
20.  Sunsets over the Rocky Mountains (I can see them from my front yard)
21.  My husbands family
22.  Working stove/oven/dishwasher (I don't appreciate these as much until they're NOT working)
23.  Comfy bed in which to sleep at night.
24.  Hugs and kisses from my family.

I think I will post my list on my refrigerator and add to it through the days and weeks to come.  If we keep our blessings in the forefront of our mind we are less likely to have negative thoughts and attitudes. A blessed life is an elegant life.