Thankful

You know, life is good.

The above statement may seem obvious to some of you. If this includes you, I am happy for you. I have, however, danced around this idea for quite some time--particularly over the past year. Not that I've had a terrible life. Quite the contrary. I'm sure you can look back over the happenings of your own life and recognize times where you caught yourself asking the questions, "What's this thing we call life all about?" and "Now what?" I am not a particulary existential person. There are times, though, usually after particular highs or lows, when I have encountered such questions. This year has been probably the most intense question-asking period for me.

I have encountered a few changes in the past year that probably have sparked a few of these existential moments. A few of the primary "identities" that I have assumed in the past have changed--which is WEIRD. I've gone from belonging to a family of four, and being a university student, two identities which usually determine your schedule and activities day in and day out. My family has "changed shape," leaving me to often wish I was allowed to be a little less responsible and actually play the role of a daughter. My six years of schooling abruptly came to a halt in June, leaving me wondering if I'd have a summer job, let alone a career to begin as a teacher in the fall.

If you don't remember the title of this blog, please refer to it now. As you can probably tell already, if you didn't previously know, I'm a pretty wordy person. There was no wordier way I could title this entry, though. Trust me, I tried! "Thankful" is an understatement, I still feel, but it's accurate, that's for sure. Even in the midst of chaos in my family's home, God takes care of those whom he loves. Internship went famously, even though all I knew to be consistent in my family--my parents--was falling apart. God gave me focus, supports, and exceeded my wildest dreams. I say that the Lord exceeded my wildest dreams because I came home from Europe at the end of May to a job at Campbell Collegiate, the school at which I had done my internship. Nothing this girl could have done independent of the Lord would ever have deserved such a wonderful position. I could write for days giving you the details about how perfectly catered this position is for me and all that God has done "behind the scenes" to make sure I would be blessed at the outset of my career.

After hearing about the job I would be taking in the fall, I looked at my bank account. Trust me, after last receiving a paycheck in September of '06, I was needing cash, and needing cash quick. Sure enough, the only interview I had in my lame search for a summer job in April paid off. I got a phone call a couple of weeks before I was to begin a short stint as a sessional instructor at the University of Regina teaching ESL. What a blast, and a blessing, that was!

Questioning God, I have discovered, is not a bad thing. Job asked God when everything that was familiar to him was ripped out from underneath him. He didn't sin against the Lord. I know, though, that I have not been as faithful to the Lord as Job was. There have been times when I have been angry at my situation and when I have held God responsible for it. But when I actually sit and take the time to write a list of alllll the ways he's been faithful, I can't help but tear up, praise him, and thank him for pointing me to him. He is good. He has blessed me with blessings even when I didn't realize I needed one, and even in the times when I thought I could use one but didn't even know what to ask for.

How many times has that happened to you? I bet if you made a list, you'd be overwhelmed with thankfulness like me.

Life IS good...because he is.