Grateful Monday ( which really was Sunday)

I'm a day late for my grateful Sunday post, but wanted to make sure I recorded, in conjunction with that special day, my gratitude for the many blessings which I enjoy.

Yesterday was 9/11.  We all know what that means. Just to say those two numbers, images automatically pop into my head of what that day represented 10 years ago. I can't believe it's been that long, yet the memories are so very fresh as if it were just yesterday.  So at this particular time when we pause to reflect on how our nation changed, how WE may have changed, I am reminded of all the things I feel an immense amount of gratitude for.

*  I am grateful first and foremost for a loving God, who, some may say, 'Where was He when this all happened' yet I feel, as I know many do, He had never been more present than at that time.

*  I am grateful for my family who surround me each day and remind me how fleeting time can be, and how, because of those events on that tragic day, make me more appreciative of them, for we never know when, in an instant, they may be taken from us.

*  I am grateful for this blessed country, The United States of America, that (for the present time) allows us to worship how, when and where we may, that comes together in times of need, who mourns with those who mourn, and when the need arises, people come and rebuild, whether that be in the construction of buildings, or lives.

*  I am grateful for modern technology which allows us to keep up to speed on what is happening around us.  I have loved watching the memorials, the documentaries of the many lives that were involved on that day.  Our country is full of wonderful people who care about each other and put others first, before themselves, and those shows aired all over the world, proved that to us all.

*  I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father (again) who can bring us peace through the most tragic of times in our lives. While we may not understand why some things happen, I know for a surety, that He is there to comfort us, and will not allow us to pass through any trial that He does not think we can handle. He knows us better than we know ourselves.  Just listening to the many people directly affected by 9/11 has proven, yet again to me, that life can go on, and be beautiful, despite the evil acts of others.

I could go on and on about the things for which I am grateful, but the above mentioned come to mind first and foremost.  The trials we endure can either 'make us' or 'break us'.  I hope that we all allow them to 'make us', because that will be what makes this country stronger and more bound together.