I’ve been counting the days to my birthday and then I got the thought of writing down a gratitude list for all the blessings, gifts, surprises I got for the past 12 months. After all, counting our blessings uplifts us and reminds us of God’s goodness and faithfulness to all of us 🙂
Here goes my list (first on the list means it occurred during the earliest part of last year):
1. Short story published in the book, Babayeng Sugid/Cebu Stories by Anvil. I had emailed my story to one of my writing mentors in late 2011 for her comments, not knowing that she was putting together a collection of short stories with another editor. The short stories were to be written by members of Women in Literary Arts, mostly based in Cebu. And I had been an active member of the group until I moved from there (to several places actually). My story “Grieving” thus found itself within the pages of the book. By the way, do get your copies from National Bookstore branches; you can also order online.
2. A microwave & a laptop. What a thrilling surprise when the leadership team and my fellow office mates at Living Springs International gave me a “despedida” or going away party as I bid good-bye to full-time work with them last May. And part of the surprise party was a new microwave oven!  Now, the laptop was a separate gift from a Singaporean contact which was given just before the going away party 🙂
3. Blog finally inched up to Page Rank 1. After about a year of blogging, this blog was given a PR 1 by Google. In simple terms, page rank is what Google uses to determine the importance of a web page (10 being the highest). The change means more interested sponsors and advertisers. Me thinks this is good news 🙂
4. Blogging & Freelance Writing has been good. Blogging and writing hasn’t made me a millionaire (yet?) but I would say it’s been good because income from the written word has covered house bills and even groceries. This means that the hubby is not alone in shouldering all the needs in the home.
5. Youth Kairos course 4th edition. I had the chance to help out with a team in putting this course package together and running it. This is basically a course that would help young people find their purpose in life and their involvement in the Great Commission.
6. Church Work. The hubby and I experienced, learned and survived a year of overseeing a small church (formerly a church outreach) of The Jesus Family Ministries (TJFM). We were especially glad that campus ministry was birthed as we began serving there.
7. Family Times, Friendship Times. The hubby and I traveled to Bohol in October for my sister’s wedding and had fun times with the family and relatives. On Christmas Day, we also had some bonding time with my hubby’s side of the family. I also had the chance about the middle of last year to spend good times with friends and Grace Communion International church mates/family in Cebu. One of my good friends from way back my working days in Cebu also came to the Philippines from abroad with his family. It has been close to a decade since I last saw Adonis, his wife Neneng and their daughter, Yana. We had some catching up in Panglao, Bohol.
8. Cebuano Poems on Skina Balak e-book. While I was based in Cebu for more than a decade, I also joined a Cebuano writers group, Bathalad. We encouraged one another to continue writing poems and short stories in Cebuano. The group’s present head asked me for some poems last year. These were then included in a poetry e-book (Skina Balak). You can check out a copy available online, you can download them for free here.
9. Blog Posts Reaching 100. Finally reached that mark last year. I began blogging just before the year 2011 closed its doors. And by last year, there were finally 100 posts on this blog.
10. Social Media Life and the world of plug-ins. I am thankful for learning more about social media, applications and plug-ins last year. I am amazed with the geniuses behind them. I think it is so cool to know a need and then specifically create something to meet that need.
11. The hubby finally got a camera & blender. And when he did, the photos in this blog got better. And thanks to the blender, our romantic evenings now included fresh fruits shakes 🙂
12. Down payments, down payments. Finally came up with the initial down payment for our own place. The hubby and I hope to say good bye to our rented place now and say hello to a place we can call our own this year. I don’t really mind how small it is, just as long as we could call it our own.
It’s a good thing to remember what we have been given, blessed with. The Bible, particularly Psalm 103:1-5 reminds us to thank the Lord and not to forget all the blessings, benefits He has given us. There is much to be thankful for indeed 🙂  In fact, as I finish this list, I realized that there are more than 12 things to thank for in 2012. And somehow, this list is just really a tip of the iceberg.
Now what about you? What are you thankful for?