Thankful for vs. Thankful to

A Break from Sarah’s Post-It Note Inspirations Series to Give Thanks

In honor of this season of thanksgiving, I wanted to write a post to recognize some of the things I am thankful for. Now, you must understand that it is not possible for me to list everything I am thankful for, but here is the brief list I came up with that I wanted to highlight in this blog post:

I am thankful for:

I am thankful for the things that bring me happiness and joy, the three core being my faith, my family and my friends. I am thankful for these meaningful relationships with God and with the many people in my life. I am thankful for all the opportunities God has blessed me with, including my school, my job and my extracurricular activities. I am thankful for my passion of writing. I am thankful for learning. I am thankful for running. I am thankful for all my basic needs that are met every day.

I am even thankful for the hard things, for the people and circumstances that hurt me. I am thankful for the situations that left me with bruises that heal, and scars that don’t. I am thankful for suffering, because I know that in suffering, He uses me and I see His power work.

The difference between thankful for and thankful to: 

In my opinion, there is a difference between the phrases thankful for and thankful to. Switching the preposition gives the phrase a different, more intimate, meaning. I can be thankful for pretty much anything, but I can only be thankful to people, more specifically, very special people. In fact, without these people, many things on my thankful for list would not exist.

Similar to my thankful for list, it is not possible for me to list all of the people I am thankful to, although I very much wish I could. But instead, it has been placed on my heart to use the rest of this blog post to recognize just three groups of people that have really helped me this fall semester. The following are three groups of people I am very thankful to:

I am thankful to:

My family 

Thank you for encouraging me to work hard and pursue my passions, and for providing me with both the courage and the opportunities I need to succeed. Thank you for knowing me more than anyone else in this world. Thank you for walking with me through hard times, and celebrating with me during accomplishments. Thank you for shaping me and for making such a powerful impact on my life.

My roommates 

Thank you for being the biggest blessings of my entire semester. Thank you for allowing me to know what it feels like to live with best friends, and for showing me what it means to love and support each other every day. Thank you for providing a safe, comfortable and most of all fun environment to live in, and for providing a listening ear whenever I need it.

Mis amigas españolas

Thank you for understanding the most life-changing adventure of my life, and for helping me be the best person I can be. Thank you for listening to my struggles. Thank you for remembering Spain with me and for helping me to express my emotions, passions and goals as we go through our daily lives here on campus. Thank you for creating friendships that will last a lifetime.