Thankful

The other night I was explaining to Callie that Thanksgiving was coming up and we had a discussion about what we were thankful for.  I told her about how I was thankful for having food to eat and a house to live in and how we live in a peaceful country.  I guess I was trying to point out the many things we can take for granted in our daily life.  

I'm thankful for the love and joy my family brings.

She listened without any life experience to be able to imagine what it would be like to be hungry, homeless or at war.  Then she pipes up and says, "I'm thankful for Lexi because she makes me laugh."

I think sister gets it.

I'm thankful I get to be their mom.

And I know exactly what she has in mind when she says Lexi makes her laugh.  Little sister is really hamming it up these days.  She is quite the performer.  Putting on shows and dances where she gives a little three year old bootie shake.  Lately, Lexi has developed a bit of a stutter.  And my speech pathologist friend assures me that she is just going though a period of language development and she will outgrow it.  And if Callie hadn't gone through the exact same thing I would definitely be more concerned.

I'm thankful for the small things.

 But for now, whenever Lexi gets going and she gets hung up on a word, something like "y-y-y-y-y-y-y-you want to play with me?"  Callie looks at me, I look at her, we hold back our smiles, then we both look at Lexi and Lexi starts to laugh at herself and then we all have a good giggle because it's so cute and funny and mostly because we're pretty sure it won't last forever.

I'm thankful for the everyday memoires we are making.

When I asked Lexi what she was thankful for she looked around and said she was thankful for her straw cup and her toys.  Both of which are pretty important when you are three.

Blogging our life stories over the past couple of years has really forced me to look for the good and see the joy in the simple, everyday things.  We live in a time where complaining is like a national past time.  It's right up there with discussing the weather.  We complain about our weight, our spouses, our jobs, our homes, what we don't have or how we would have done it differently.  And when I sit down to look at the pictures I took of the girls I try to weed out all the complaining and write about the good.

I am thankful for peaceful sleeping girls.

Like all things in life there has to be some kind of balance.  And I struggle with where the line is between hoping and dreaming and wanting for more and being thankful and grateful for what I have.  I am thankful for our home, the fact that we have a roof over our heads to keep us warm in the winter and a safe haven to greet us at the end of our day.  But in the next breath I wish we had a fireplace, drywall, new windows, deck, siding and a beautifully landscaped yard.  

When does wishing for more become complaining and ungrateful sounding?  I don't know the answer to this but the way I balance it in my mind is with a bible verse or the Bryds song... whichever you prefer. 

We all have so much to be thankful for.  Some days the blessing are big and noticeable and all wrapped up in pretty paper and other days we need to wipe away the dirt and use a magnifying glass to see them.  I guess the balance is in being thankful despite the size and packaging.  Happy Thanksgiving.