Unexpected Thanksgiving

Confession time: I almost didn't write a blog post this week. 
I've been getting over a nasty head cold since Saturday, and me being me I neglected to take any time to rest and heal until Wednesday. 
Needless to say, I haven't really been thinking about a topic, haven't had the energy to put in an effort, and have been in too much of a brain fog to put the words together. 
However, the Wednesday rest day proved to be much needed and effective, so I am here. 

One thing I've been realizing while I've been sick is how little I appreciate the things I've been given.
To explain it better, I do a lot of things that require a decent amount of energy. I sing, which requires a clear voice as well; dance; act; workout; write; clean around the house; do schoolwork; make videos; have responsibilities I need to keep up with; and many other things. Being sick, I can't sing (at least not very well); I don't have the energy to dance, workout, make videos, or write; and I've been so foggy-brained, I've found it hard to even just focus long enough to do my schoolwork each day. 

It's getting better as I'm healing, and the fog has lifted enough/the energy has returned enough that I can write this post (which is a huge step), but it's still making me realize how much I take these every day things (i.e. my voice, my ability to smell and taste, my energy, my clear sinuses) for granted. 

I was thinking about this Wednesday and yesterday, as I sat down to write this post, and I remembered a prayer I had been praying not long before I came down with this. 
I had asked God to create a thankful heart in me. 
I was noticing how I had been sort of forgetting about Him in day-to-day life, and so I asked for Him to shift my heart and help me be thankful for this life He has given me. 

Course, I was not expecting Him to answer by allowing me to come down with something, but maybe that's what was needed to shift my heart. 
Maybe the things I have needed to be temporarily taken away from me, in order to open my eyes to what has been there all along. 

You know it's a miracle anyone even lives at all?
There is so much that could go wrong, and yet our hearts keep beating and our lungs keep breathing. 
Doesn't that tell you there's something greater happening here? Doesn't that make you feel thankful to even just be alive another minute?

Everything that you have, whether it be a skill or an ability, is given by the King of the Universe. 
He can freely give and take away, and yet He loves us so much that He rarely decides the latter.
When the latter is evident in your life, look around at all that you're still being given. 
I don't know... Just the thought of all of that fills my heart with thanksgiving.