A Little Thankful Thursday

It's November, the time of year when even the secular world pauses to count their blessings and pin "I'm thankful for" feathers on a paper turkey. I have heard many wonderful ideas of ways to share our thankfulness, from a Thanksgiving Tree to dropping slips of paper in a box (to be read aloud at Thanksgiving dinner) to posting one thankful item per day on Facebook. In my college years, my sisters and I created a thankful poster each November, and all of the family members jotted down blessings - from salvation to sugar cookies - to add to the poster. Then when Donny and Hayden were in kindergarten, which finished last November, they created a page for their Blessings Books every Thursday. They would draw a picture of something they were thankful for, I would help them spell the word, and the sheet of paper was tucked inside a sheet protector in a 3-ring binder.

While the boys were hard at work on these precious keepsakes, I would pick up my own notebook and jot a few bullet notes of things I was thankful for that week. Sadly, since we finished kindergarten, both the children and I have often neglected to thank God for both the small and large gifts we receive each day. But tonight, in a rare moment of quiet, I picked up my long-forgotten notebook and quickly filled a page with a few of the ways God has blessed me recently. Here is my list. When you finish reading, grab a piece of paper or open a new text document and start your own!

Tonight I am thankful for...

• a warm, cozy home
• chicken soup on a rainy day
• sweet sleepy newborn noises
• being blessed with Abigail Joy on 10/10
• an easier C-section recovery than last time
• surviving the first trip to the grocery store with all four children
• the lady in line behind me saying, "Can I just tell you, you are the most calm mother! And your children are so well-behaved!"
• a small opportunity to witness when the cashier agreed with her and asked, "What do you do different?"
• knowing that anything good in me or our family is only by His grace
• the fun anticipation surrounding birthdays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas
• having the resources to bless children around the world by participating in Operation Christmas Child
• my husband's new job that will allow him to grow professionally and (hopefully) ease his stress
• God's continual financial provision as our family grows
• a few moments of quiet while everyone else sleeps to sense the Lord's presence and bask in His love
  
• knowing that I serve a very big God!
  

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. – Colossians 2:6-7