As I watch the early morning news, I’m feeling the same horrible awfulness that I felt last November. Each week we, as a nation, learn the news of a new low in our national government. Last week it was the firing of the director of the FBI because of his investigation of Russia’s involvement in the election. Last night the story broke of this president sharing classified information with Russia. This story was refuted strongly by others in the government. Then this morning the occupant of the White House admitted doing it on Twitter. Unbelievable! What is giving me a feeling of hopelessness is that our congress will do nothing…just as they’ve done nothing about anything else to date. Will our nation survive the government? 
These gratitude posts started because I needed to think of something in the midst of the despair after the election. Over the past couple months my daily need to explicitly “count my blessings” has waned and so I haven’t posted daily. Today’s news drives me back to the need to remember that life is a mixture of that which is good…and bad. So while I’m horrified at the awful state of our nation I’m also grateful in other ways.
Today I am personally thankful for: the mental health benefits of long runs, hard runs, any and all runs; true patriots who are doing whatever they can to oppose what is happening in our government; and, especially, the promise of faith that while the world may seem to spiral out of control, God is with us. May this knowledge give us courage.