It is May 1st.

It is the first day of May. Which draws to a close my little mini project for the month. I have taken time, every day....okay maybe every other day to count my blessings; to reflect on what I am grateful for.

I will be the first to admit, that turning my attention to things that I am grateful for the last couple weeks has been a challenge. I found myself writing silly things like music or coffee. Maybe they aren't silly at all. With each one of those things that I identified, there was a moment or a collection of moments bundled up with it. It is in those moments that the smell or taste of coffee, the lyrics of my favorite song or the simple act of rolling the window down as I drive, that warms my soul, reminding me to take a deep breath, enjoy the moment and give thanks.

On multiple occasions, it was just a rough day. I was frustrated. The last thing I wanted to do was to stop, put effort into blogging 5 or 10 things that I was grateful for. Let's face it....being upset, frustrated and angry is much easier than CHOOSING to be grateful. But making that choice or forcing myself to continue this project changed my attitude on numerous days. It changed my perspective.

So here I am.....just as May 1 is about to turn into May 2nd. I still have 10 last things to be grateful for as I draw this project to a close.

1. The US Military. About an hour ago, it was announced that Osama Bin Laden was declared dead. For those men and women, the fathers, sisters, brothers, mothers, friends etc. that put their life on the line to ensure our freedom....THANK YOU.

2. Spring cleaning. I love throwing stuff away!

3. Fresh flowers! I may have bought myself some flowers today. The Dove chocolate wrapper told me to!

4. Finding old pictures.....and reliving the moments captured.

5. Vanilla Coke...cold...with a straw. Yes, the straw makes all the difference.

6. Going into Monday knowing that I actually accomplished something.

7. Being stretched and challenged. Doing things that I am not accustomed to doing, but learning along the way.

8. For pastors, my Dad included. Who stand in front of a crown every Sunday and share God's word.

9. The moment when you do something ridiculous and you look around hoping that no one saw you.

10. Beautiful words, and those that take those words and produce a work of art. Case and point....the video below. I just adore this video. It gave me goosebumps. This is what I would want to tell my future daughter and I feel like she is even telling me, right now, just as I am.