Thankful

Thankful as defined by Webster means; impressed with a sense of kindness received and ready to acknowledge it. Well, as Thursday gets closer I have found myself taking inventory of all the people, and things I am thankful for in my life. Today, I added my mother in law to my ever growing list of people I am so grateful to have in my life.
Girls, you know how when we are little we are taught to start praying for our future husbands...well, why don't we learn to pray for our future husband and their family? The infamous saying, "you don't just marry the boy/girl, but the whole family"...it's true! Unfortunately, for some people this is a curse that they endure their entire married lives. I got lucky in the department of in-laws and I know that...but there are certain times when I acquire a new understanding for just how blessed I am as far as Jeremy's family is concerned. Today was one of those days and I had to share it!
My mother in law Dawn is my Naomi. For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about here's a brief history lesson: Naomi was the mother in law of Ruth and she was a selfless woman. Even after her husband and two sons died and left her without any blood relatives in Moab and Israel for all she knew, she still insisted that her two daughters in law go back to their own families in Israel. Ruth wouldn't leave Naomi and once Naomi realized how determined Ruth was to give up the possibility of security and children in order to care for her, Naomi gave in and allowed Ruth to stay with her. The story continues with Naomi devising a plan to find a new husband for Ruth and so it goes that Ruth and Boaz meet, fall in love, marry and have a son, Obed...Naomi's grandson, the grandfather of David. Neat, isn't it? God always works for the good of those who love Him!
Anyway, back to present day...my mother in law is like Naomi, a selfless woman and I think that this is a very rare quality to find in a person today. I can't count the number of times she went out of her way to make me feel welcome and apart of her family before I was an official Vastola. She is always showering Jeremy, Katelyn and I with gifts (definately a love language of hers) and there is nothing she wouldn't do to make mine and Jeremy's life as easy as it can be. Today, in particular I realized how lucky I am because I met up with her to do some shopping at Hometown Threads and grab a quick lunch before meeting my mother, and grandmother at Reeve's. Dawn accompanied me to Reeve's with my mother's invitation (another selfless woman in my life) and it occured to me that this probably wasn't a normal picture for some, because not only do I have a friend in my mom, but in my "mom 2". To top that, Jeremy and I get to spend Thanksgiving with both of our families together, and even though it is due to a last minute emergency in my brother in laws family...I still feel so blessed to have two families that get along, because they have common ground...they love Jeremy, Katelyn and I and they love the Lord!
I only hope that Katelyn will be as blessed in this area of her life one day as I am...in fact, I'm not just going to teach her to pray for her future husband and his family, but I'm going to pray for them as well....don't worry, I'll wait on Katelyn's part of this lesson for a long while!..but, I figure I don't have to wait, you can never pray for something too much!
I hope that all of you take inventory of everything you have to be thankful for this year...it's fun and it will open your eyes to how good God is!
"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever"!! ~Psalm 136:1