I remember my first anxiety attack. I was in my freshman year at high school, and it was a few days before we picked classes for sophomore year. I had come home from school with the long course catalog and was sitting on the couch with it in my lap. My mind started racing, overwhelmed by all the choices of classes I had in front of me. I’ve always been the kind of person who gets panicky when I feel overwhelmed by a big-picture process. 

Compared to the vast amount of choices, it felt like my schedule wouldn’t fit them all. Suddenly, I felt like the choices I made would have a great impact on the rest of my life; like somehow if I made the wrong choice of classes, my whole path would be altered. I felt ill-prepared to make a decision so soon. I hadn’t thought about the course of the rest of my life at fifteen years old. 

We have so many things to be thankful for that we often don’t reflect on. So many things that it doesn’t even occur to us to be grateful for, but all things that God has given us, and all equally deserving to give Him praise for.

For our homes– the very fact that we have one. Whether we rent, or pay a mortgage, or live with our parents. Thank you, God, for allowing us a space somewhere in this world where we can be safe; that we can make our own. Thank you for a place to go every day, when our work is done, that we can rest and find peace in. Thank you for all the creature comforts of that home: the running water, the microwave, the comfy couch, the clean sheets, and the lights that come on when we flip the switch. That home is a reflection of us, so we thank you for the safety of that dwelling place, and the privilege to make it ours.