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Thankful Thursday: Counting my blessings one by one

 1. I'm glad to be back at work - I feel lost outside my job because it is my calling.

2. I'm thankful for the progress I see in the students that were slacking. There's a particular girl who came in our school. She was condoned to Grade 2 and she wasn't equipped for the grade - she couldn't write on the line, couldn't read, count; but I've seen God's grace over her life. At some point her parents thought of taking her to a special school and her mother was so excited to see her child write and recite scriptures. This is a child who was reported to be reluctant to speak in her previous school. When she came, she didn't know much English and there were speech issues where you could tell she struggled with saying words properly and spelling was also a major issue. Thankfully, now she's better in speech and her reading has improved. She no longer shows signs of mental blockages - I don't know what to call them. But she'd have instances where you could see a mental struggle and she'd struggle with seemingly basic things like counting backwards or addition.

There's also a boy that made me nervous - he seemed so absent-minded. He always had stories about why he didn't do his homework. Thankfully, after having a meeting with both parents on separate occasions, I've been seeing a lot of improvements. I'm glad. He enjoys learning. Today it was Grade 1's turn to read a story we will be memorizing soon and when I called him to read, he threw a fist in the air and said "yes!" What a lovely sight to behold and his reading is getting better.

3. I'm grateful for a Father who makes provision - I've been impressed to study about the conscience and I had been planning to start exploring that theme and interestingly, as I was doing my morning devotion, I was led to it and I've gotten resources that will take me weeks to explore. I can't wait for the Sabbath so I can make time to study more, without the need to do house chores or do something for work.

4. I am grateful for freedom of choice. I've recently cut my hair short and I feel so much lighter and more beautiful. I hope to share a bit about my hair journey.

5. I am grateful for warm clothes for winter.

6. I am grateful for my mother and my colleagues.

7. I'm grateful for healing. I never realized I had emotional scars! But thanks be to the Healer - God.

8. Grateful for love - the world would be such a dark and cold world without love. A shout out to loving folks who embrace me. A shout out to my partner - our relationship has exposed me to issues I need to heal from and he has embraced me, encouraged me to  be vulnerable and continues to be a safe space. For someone who has never been able to share things I find offensive, he's really taught me that it's okay to speak up. He's really taught me a lot and his courage and support has been wholesome. I'm still learning to communicate and express my needs, but I'm thankful for the sharpening experience it's been.

9. Thankful for restoration and knowing I can achieve what I put my mind to- let's just say Uni left my heart in shambles and for the past 6 years or so, I've lived a life where I no longer had goals nor believed in myself. The guilt that came with failure broke me completely since it's my own choices. Fear controlled me so much that I was overwhelmed by trying new things. But I've been able to take baby steps through exploring Podcasting (even though I'm slack), cooking, serving at church, painting etc. I've been able to do much through my previous blog, though I decided to delete it and I'm just thankful for restoration.

10. I'm thankful for all the African folks pushing their dreams - whether it's a young lady who's started selling vegetables, friends furthering their studies, I get encouraged that I'll achieve my dreams, no matter how long it takes.




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