thankful.

I can’t believe it’s already the week of thanksgiving!  How did that time go by so fast? Oh, maybe it’s that I’ve been running a million miles a minute. 

I was so ambitious at the beginning of the thanksgiving season.  All gung ho to get totally into the thankful spirit.  I’ve been reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp recommended by Catherine.  It is beautiful so far and has really sold me on the idea of gratitude.  Gratitude makes you happy.  Period.  Ann Voskamp is challenged to write down 1000 things she is grateful for.  1000 gifts.  When I read that I thought, that’s it, that’s what I’m going to do this November.  I’m going to grasp every good gift in my life, write them down in a poetic way.  Capture them in my heart.  Feel full.

But then things spun out of control (they’ve been doing that a lot lately) and now it’s the week before Thanksgiving.  I’ve thought a lot about blessings.  We’ve been talking a lot about thankfulness as a family.  We have our thankful tree up.  But I haven’t sat down to really reflect and write my blessings at all. 

So, I’m going to bag the totally unrealistic challenge of 1000 and see if I can get to 100 in the next few days.  Now I’m not talking about a one word kind of list.  I could nail out 1000 easily if I was just thinking one word.  Salt, computers, pens, jonny jump up, books, car, friends, air, wireless internet, cell phones, rain, heat, running water.  No, I’m talking a thoughtful list of gifts.  A list that forms images in my head, that helps the beauty of those gifts bring me into the present.  A list that will help me taste the joy of all the blessings that my life is bursting with.  

While I’m far from any kind of poet, I’m going to give it a try.  My list won’t be as beautiful as hers, but that shouldn’t stop me from doing it, right?  So, here goes.  I’m going to write a few I thought of today and then go from there.   I won’t bore you with all of them on the blog….just starting here to keep me honest. 

(and these are in no particular order, except for the first one)

1. Jesus Christ.  His example.  His influence in our lives.  His atonement.  The spirit that floods our home when we focus on Him and try follow Him.
2. sweet friendship between Hazel and Charlie
3. crunching leaves under my feet on a crisp morning run
4. hearing Hazel gently negotiate Emmeline through getting ready for bed
5. my children’s examples to me of patience, forgiveness, love, concern
6. peter breathing heavy on my shoulder, drunk on my milk
7. emmeline’s expressive eyebrows
8. charlie’s curious mind, ever asking why and figuring
9. Hazel’s creative mind.  ever creating and seeing the world in ways I’d never dream of.
10. Emmeline’s cheeks, red with exuberance for life.
11. Emmeline’s restless cuddles in the morning
12. Peter’s easy, sparkly smile.
13. the sound of jeff walking in the door after a long day for both of us
14. the ability to video chat with all 9 of my siblings at once over google groups – amazing.
15. friends who will drop anything to help me
16. only a few rounds of antibiotics ever in our little families medical history
17. a crackling fire in the background of an afternoon’s rough and tumble rattle and noise
18. a body that can stay up late and get up early and still function moderately well
19. Hazel school, complete with report cards for Charlie and Emmeline.
20. a church community that helps fill the void of being away from family
21. shiny house plants that I haven’t killed
22. light coming in my living room window in the late afternoon
23. afternoon snack time with hot coco, peppermint Jo Jos and tales from school
24. friends who make you want to be excellent
25. the big wide world and all the diversity that it has to offer
26. Charlie's wide grin when he first sees me at school pick up
27. the smell of my bed as I sink into it after a long day
28. peace as I nurse peter in the dark before dawnbreak
29. hearing only the muffled bedtime silliness of my children as I nurse peter down for the night in the dark quiet stillness of his room.
30. front row seats to my kids’ daily funky dance concerts
31. Emmeline’s heavy but searching eyes as I sing her Jesus songs before bed
32. sleeping children
33. radiators hissing, pouring in warmth to our little home
34. private tours through Lego creations, knex carnivals, tinker toy museums
35. interesting tid bits of information about the outside world from Jeff
36. being a first hand witness when my children utter the occasional real prayer.  real connection with their Father.
37. hazel’s piano practicing when I walk in the door from my run
38. all the minute by minute details hazel gives me about her day
39. the beauty of a family meal and dinner conversations, even when they derail into silliness. 
40. looking through old photographs, telling us who we were and are
41. bed time.
42. Emmeline’s middle of the night needs answered by Jeff while I sleep
43. open, inspiring talks on a morning run
44. mist rising in the cemetery
45. the soundtrack of baby babbling, screeching and sighing as I make my way through the day
46. cheerios stuck to little fingers, somehow making their way, without my help, into a little hungry mouth
47. comments on my blog letting me know I’m not alone
48. calls from and to sisters and far away friends as I sweep the floor, fold laundry or load the dishwasher
49. love connections captured by my camera reminding me of all the goodness in each life
50. the feeling of a warm shower after a cold run

I’m half way there, and I’m just scratching the surface.  Maybe I’ll get close to 1000 after all. 

Gratitude = Happiness