Thanksgiving is tomorrow . . . WHAT?! Time continues to get
weirder as I age. (It sounds as if I’m
calling myself old in that last sentence. I’m not. 35 is still totally young.
Right?) Time is moving so quickly I feel
I can hardly keep up.
But here we are, and as I was reflecting earlier on what I’m
thankful for this year, I decided I wanted to share it. I’m thankful for a
whole lot, but I’ll break down the big things here:
First – The number one spot always has to go to God, my
creator and the one whose grace sustains me even on the worst of days. My life
is His, my hope rests in Him and He is so, so good.
Second – my husband, Michael, of course! We started dating
in 2004, were married in 2008, had our first baby in 2009 and five more by
2015. He is the hardest worker that I
know (literally as I type this- he is working a double overtime shift for our
family.) He is still my favorite person.
He is the best Dad – I keep saying I’m going to write about that,
actually . . . I need to . . . I could not have dreamt up a better father for
my children than him. He still makes me
laugh, and he is still the person I want to spend time with more than anyone
else. He puts up with me, and that is sometimes a very hard job – but he does
it. To say that I love him doesn't feel like enough. I thank God for him.
 |
| April 12, 2008 |
 |
| Last Friday night |
Third – you knew I was going to say the kids, right? I don’t
know why I’ve been given six healthy children.
I don’t understand it. But I do know
and understand the weight of the blessing and there is not a day that goes by in which I
do not thank Jesus for this life with them. They are beautiful, and smart, and kind, and mine.
 |
| Our most recent camping trip |
Fourth – our families. Michael’s family all lives
nearby. His parents just had the kids
this past weekend –giving us two kid-free nights. His parents do this willingly and joyfully,
and I know this isn’t the case with every set of grandparents! Not only is his
family a blessing to us but they are a blessing to our children. My family is not so close, but my heart is still
with them. The times that I do see my
siblings or my nieces and nephews is so, so sweet. I am thankful for each and
every one of our family members.
 |
| Cousins from Michael's side |
 |
| Cousins from my side |
Fifth – my friends. I almost feel this should be higher on
my list. I have the best friends, and I’m not kidding. I have the kind of friends who have dropped
diapers AND beer off on my doorstep when I’ve had a newborn. I have the kind of
friends who have helped me travel to a Navy reunion when I didn’t have the
funds. I have the kind of friends who
have encouraged me on the 7th mile of a long run to finish strong,
as our toddlers are being pushed in running strollers. I have the kind of friends who have texted me
to let me know they’re praying for me. Yeah.
I could go on with this one for a while, actually. Maybe this needs to be a later blog
post. Suffice it to say for now – I’m
beyond thankful for my friends.
 |
| A dinner with friends |
My last one might sound a little strange – but I’m thankful
for the struggles in my life. Okay. Not always.
Sometimes I wish things could be easier.
Like when it takes 20 minutes to get out the door once I thought my kids
were dressed and ready – because of a missing shoe, or because a kid has to go
to the bathroom last minute, or a few of them are fighting and by the time I
get all six in the van and buckled I’m EXHAUSTED and do not know how I’ll actually
run the errand we just got in the vehicle to do. Yeah. I do it anyway. And I feel strong. Sometimes I wish it could be easier when I’m
dealing with all of these crazy hard feelings that come with my relationship
with my mother (not going to re-hash all of that here. Too long of a story.
Revert back to the blog post before this, if you’re curious.) It’s hard on me,
and I want it to be easier. I want a
normal, healthy relationship with her. But it isn’t there. It may never be there. Despite this hurt and void I feel from that,
I get by. I try to turn the negative
energy into good and focus on my own kids.
And I feel strong. I was about to conclude this paragraph – but I can’t
help but share with you that my five-year-old son just came in my room to
complain about one of his sisters. He tried to stand on the bottom of my
computer chair, slipped (of course) and cut his neck on the edge of my
desk. I’m not making this up! (He is
fine, in case you’re wondering.) This added to the struggle of finishing a blog
post! But I helped him out, and I’m back to finish what I started. And I feel strong. I
could make this particular part of my thankful list longer and explain in
detail other struggles I have, but I really don’t need to, do I? To be human is
to struggle. We all have our sad stories
and we all have our daily obstacles to tackle. But if I’m being completely
honest about it all – I feel the hard stuff, the hard times – they make me so
much stronger than before. So, as crazy
as it sounds, I’m thankful for the hard. Romans 5:3-5 is a favorite of mine these days.
I’ll end this with saying that I’m thankful for YOU for
making it this far in reading my blog post, and I hope that today or tomorrow
you make your own list of what you’re thankful for. I pray you have a very
Happy Thanksgiving and wonderful Christmas season.
Until next time . . .
Comments
Post a Comment