Twenty-six years

'My cup overflows with blessings.'
I listened today as my friend Tomiko told my life story to her son and I thought 'wow, that's a fun life!'. I've seen my own troubles and felt plenty of heartache, but the great things far outweigh the not-so-great. Bear with me as I get a little nostalgic and remember the countless blessings God's given me along the way...
My birth certificate clearly says Ferkessedougou, Ivory Coast, West Africa. Yet I spent 95% of my formative years running around as a seemingly true French person. But I am indeed American according to my passport and part of my heart. I've seen the beauty of the Alpes; tasted authentic Belgian waffles; seen Holland in Tulip season; visited the home of Corrie Ten Boom; eaten bratwurst sausage on a rainy day in Germany; breathed the clean air of Geneva, Switzerland; walked the halls of castles like Versailles (and so many others) previously inhabited by Kings, Queens, Dukes, and Duchesses; seen Franco's grave in Spain; witnessed more than enough bull fights and runs; played a game called 'red rover' on the rock of Gibraltar; walked down the Champs Elysees at Christmas time; eaten some not so delicious food while sitting next to Big Ben; seen the history of the Roman bath in Bath, England; witnessed the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace; seen U2 in concert!; walked the grounds of Oxford University; got my ears pierced in Spain; walked along the beaches of Normandy and felt the eeriness left by graves and empty German bunkers; spent some time in the emergency room of a hospital on Jersey Island (between France and England); walked the streets of beautiful cobblestone roads in Brittany; eaten the best smelly cheese in the world!; I've been lost in Spanish mountains with siblings and cousins for four hours and lived to tell about it; I've ridden down the crookedest road in San Francisco; eaten the best cheesecake, pizza, and hot dogs in the world in Chicago; lived in Nashvegas, music capital of the south; eaten the best fried okra you could ever eat cooked by my Granny; survived a scary incident involving a frozen lake that proved to be not quite frozen; walked along the Plaza Mayor in Madrid; been to zoos in three different countries; lived on four continents; seen a Penguin parade in northern Japan; snowboarded down an Olympic mountain in Japan (graceful or not, I made it); walked my way through a sunflower maze; seen the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Sea of Japan, Sea of Ohotsk, Meditarranean Ocean, the English Channel, and probably some other body of water I'm forgetting; been to Disneyland Japan and Universal Studios Japan; stepped in century old Shrines and Temples where the effects of Satan can still be felt; spent time in the country and yet also lived in a city of 29 million people; drove three hours from Nashville to Knoxville with my eyes dialated just to see a basketball game; learned a few languages; made friends around the globe; made countless special memories with family and friends; sat in worship services on a Sunday morning in six different countries; and I'm about to climb Mt. Fuji, one of the world's most famous mountains; and the list goes on and on and on...as if that weren't already long enough, huh?
All that in only twenty-six years! I am sitting here with a smile stretching from ear to ear, in total amazement at the places God's showed me and the experiences He's allowed me to have. Not even allowed me to have....WANTED me to have. And all the sad and heart-wrenching experiences were part of His plan too, and trust me, there've been plenty. But God is good ALL THE TIME, and ALL THE TIME God is good.
I've shared with you so many of my blessings, but those are mine. I am so grateful that God is personal, and individual when it comes to His children. He's given YOU your own blessings and experiences! You've done things and been places and eaten things I've never dreamed of! Take some time to 'count your blessings one by one'. You might find that once you start, you can't stop.
"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever." ~Psalm 136:1