this

One of my favorite songs is This by Darius Rucker. During the chorus, Rucker states:

"For every stoplight I didn't make, 

Every chance I did or I didn't take,

All the nights I went too far,

All the girls that broke my heart,

All the doors that I had to close,

All the things I knew but I didn't know

Thank God for all I missed

'Cause it led me here to this."

I don't think there could be any truer words. Goodness knows I've missed a lot of chances & stoplights, had my heart broken by a number of boys and closed a number of doors. But I wouldn't trade a second of it. Every missed stoplight was a blessing in disguise.

I have a beautiful (and sanitary) one bedroom apartment.
I don't worry about losing my home.
I rarely worry about my home being broken into.
I'll graduate with my law degree in May, opening a number of doors.
I have a wonderful, loving family.
I have friends spread across this country (and a few in other countries).
I've lived in four different countries during my short 24 years (US, Italy, Scotland, South Korea).
I'm a member of a wonderful church and an amazing Bible study.
I have good health (which is improving daily).
I don't wake up in the morning worrying about whether I'll eat today or not.
By twisting a faucet I can have clean, drinkable water at any time of day or night.
I can walk down the street I live on without worrying about getting shot or blown up.
Even though I don't own a car I have access to Zipcars pretty much whenever I want.
I have more clothes & shoes than I can wear in a week.
I never worry that I'll freeze due to a lack of a jacket. Instead I worry about which of my jackets matches my outfit & the occasion.
I can afford to think about the future because today is secure.
Even though I'm not married and I don't have kids quite yet, I'm young; I'll have a family of my own one day.
I'm not on the run or in hiding. I don't have to look over my shoulder or fear for my continued existence.

There was a time in my life when I worried about being able to afford to eat. There was a time win my life when I wasn't healthy and I wasn't connected to my God. There was a time in my life when the car I owned was unreliable and I frequently couldn't afford to put gas in it. There was a time in my life when I couldn't afford to replace a pair of jeans after they ripped or a pair of shoes after they broke. There was a time in my life when just getting through the day was so exhausting that I gave no thought to tomorrow.

Through it all, my family, several of my friends, and most importantly God never abandoned me. Despite the hard times there are so many things that I've never worried about. There's so much worse that I could have gone through. Despite the hard times I'm hopeful; I've already seen so much joy and hope.

I agree with Mr. Rucker: thank God for all I missed, cause it led me here to this.