We are in a fabulous season of the year. I look out my windows at the majestic mountains, now beginning to be topped off with beautiful white snow, and still some color from the leaves, mostly fallen from the trees, and I am grateful! I have been thinking that if I had lived about a hundred years ago, I don't know if I could have lasted very long, because we have it so much easier than they did. When the snow falls, and begins to pile up, I flip the switch to my fireplace, and settle in my recliner, to enjoy a movie feeling toasty warm. 100 years, ago, they lived in log cabins, hunted for food, and collected their water in barrels to drink. I doubt they were ever really warm especially when they had to trudge through the snow, chop the wood, and constantly feed the fire for heat and to cook their food.
Years ago, our grandparents, had to till the ground by hand, and plant the seeds, and somehow figure out how to keep it watered, because they had to grow all of their food. I live only about a mile and a half away from several grocery stores, and can just drive my car, not a horse or a wagon, and fill up my cart with anything I could ever imagine to eat. There is fresh fruit to enjoy all year long, but my ancestors had to bottle, dry and preserve everything just to make it through the winter and the spring, until their crops they would plant, could begin to produce again.
We have it so good, and yet many of us still never seem to be able to find the joy in life that was intended for us. Some people never seem to be happy. Might I suggest that perhaps instead of thinking about all of our "Have nots," we might want to focus on what we have! Instead of constantly wishing for something that is out of our reach, maybe we should be more grateful for what is, and what we have, and enjoy the ride.
I am happily thankful and I want to share my list of some of what I am thankful for, with you.
What I am thankful for:
1. A loving Heavenly Father who sent us to earth to find joy.
2. My family. Nothing is better than family and together we are never alone.
3. My husband, who has loved me for 37 years and counting, and sees beyond my newly deformed
oops shaped 50+ year old body, and still says I'm the most beautiful girl in the world.
4. My cute little shrinking Mother, who has lived through cancer, fractured discs., broken ribs from
osteoporosis, and still wants to teach everyone how to play the violin for free. She lost all her hair
and it didn't grow back so she is grateful for her wigs, and that she doesn't have to style her hair
anymore and can save on the cost of shampooing her cute little bald head.
5. My wonderful home, where I feel peace, safety, and warm when the winds are howling outside,
and the snow is blowing, I am protected.
6. The wonderful vocation my husband chose so many years ago that supported our 5 children
until they married, and continues to support both of us as our bodies are falling apart. He can pay
the doctor bills, send birthday presents to our grandkids, and still have a little left over to take me
out to dinner, when he knows I need a break! We both have our Cpaps, and adjustable beds, have
our bathroom closely unlike our forefathers, who carried the lantern to the outhouse.
7. My God given talents and abilities that keep my mind actively growing and learning, to hopefully
help ward off Alzheimer's. (Unless somehow I forget.... to use them.)
8. My health and strength. I may limp like "Eileen," and retain water...but I'm still "swell!" My
teeth may be yellowing and resemble butter more than milk, and my knees I'm replacing, and my
weight is on the rise, but then again, so are interest rates. I'm still grateful. My hair is thinning,
but my waist is not, and you'd never know how many gray hairs I have thanks to shoe polish and
magic markers, (hair dye) my boobs are sagging and looking more like the women featured in
National Geographic, but I am understanding what they mean by gravitational pull. Still, I
am grateful to be alive. I have grandkids that love me, and want to be around me, and my kids
still think that I am the best cook ever, and even ask me for recipes. What more could a mother
ask for or what more could a girl want? (sometimes I wish for the fountain of youth, but if I did
find it, and look back on what I would miss, I'd never wish to trade what I have now.)
9. I can laugh and smile, and that the lines on my face don't droop, no matter how much skin is
trying to pull them downward.
10. I have the strength to help others, and the eyes to be able to see their needs.
I could go on and on and mention so much more, but to just stop for a moment to be grateful for what we do have, and not focus on what we don't, will make all the difference in the world. Oh and one thing I think I forgot to mention, is that I am thankful for a sense of humor, that has remained intact, or how could I deal with all my woes, and still come out smiling?
Enjoy life! Stop and smell the roses, or smelly feet if you wish. Look around, put on your glasses so you'll be able to see what is right in front of you. (Mine are coke bottle glasses... thick but I look so cute!) Enjoy what you have, and be grateful! Be happy! Smile! Thank the Lord!
I'm just thankful!
