So it's November, and the month of my favorite holiday...Thanksgiving! We're doing our untraditional Thanksgiving tradition of going to the beach. For the first five years of our marriage, my husband worked a collegiate basketball tournament in South Padre Island, TX (SPI) every Thanksgiving holiday. At first, it was really no big deal going to the beach for Thanksgiving. We were newlyweds and enjoying ourselves; but once we started trying to have a baby, it became more of an escape. It was an escape from hearing those questions. You know, those questions about when we were going to have a baby. And now, we still go to the beach, but not to escape from uncomfortable questions. We escape to slow down, to enjoy the simple moments, to rejuvenate, and to be thankful.

Being thankful. Grateful. Gratitude. Being thankful for what I do have (and not to be upset about what I don't have). The years of avoiding my family and those uncomfortable questions, was really about me focusing on what I didn't have. My family was not all in our face about when we were going to have a baby. Yeah, there were some isolated family members and dear friends of the family that said some less than helpful things, but overall, it was my own insecurity about our difficulty in trying to have our first child. It was my own ungratefulness of not appreciating what we did have but only focusing on what we didn't have.

As I begin to take inventory of all the abundance of blessings and gifts in my life, I invite you to join me in doing the same. I was initially thinking of doing 30 days of gratitude (on social media), but who am I kidding? I don't get on social media everyday, but every week, possibly! Through out the month of November, I'll be sharing gratitude "challenges" on Twitter and Facebook. I invite you to join me, and use hashtag #wascalledbarren in your posts. Plus, I'll be giving away a free copy of Was Called Barren at the end of the month.

~Brandi

Gratitude Challenge: Share a screenshot of your home screen! I bet your home screen has something or someone you're grateful for!