Sniff, sneeze, cough....Repeat!

You should be in our house each morning when the boys and I get up for school.  We sound like a flock of geese!  It is hilarious when we all sneeze at the same time.  I'm notorious for letting them rip...no sense in holding a good sneeze in...and then the boys say, "do it again daddy!"  They only have to wait a couple minutes and I'll be back at it.  Luckily I believe it is simply allergies and usually after an hour or so of sneezing and nose blowing things seem to calm down, but man what excitement for that first hour.
I've been told that we aren't alone is this morning ritual.  I suppose we are lucky that we don't have to deal with horrible nasal congestion and red swollen eyes and all that jazz.  I don't think I've ever prayed harder for a hard freeze!  I'm pretty sure the crops won't mind anyway.  This has been a summer of extremes.  From the weather to matters of health.  I have been reminded to be grateful for the health that we currently enjoy.  One of Tracy's good friend's sister has a 3 year old boy battling cancer, someone else we know has a little girl battling cancer, and of course there have been some people in the community battling the disease and other health emergencies.  We certainly have a lot to be grateful for.
I was praying for some of the sick people the other day and it really hit me how lucky I have been in my life.  I know there is no way I will ever be appreciative or grateful enough for how blessed I've been thus far, but I decided to make sure that every time I pray to make sure to thank God for all my blessings.  I think that is a wonderful challenge for all of us.  Each time we pray, we need to make sure to say thank you for all of the blessings we have.  Not just a generic thank you God, but try to list off everything you are thankful for...from waking up in a warm, or cool, house to being able to call up a friend and talk if need be.  I bet if we really tried to say thank you for all we have and enjoy we'd be very surprised at how long the list is and how our outlook might change.  Try it...for 1 month each day thank God for the blessings you have and see how your relationship with God changes and how your outlook on life changes.  Let me know what happens.  I will give it a try and report back in 1 month.  Now help me remember!