What I‛m Thankful For
January 23, 2020

     I could devote an entire blog site just to naming all the things I have to be thankful for everyday.  Some things are constant, so there would be some repetition, but many things are fresh and new everyday, if I learn to see them.  And even the constants show variations from day to day.  It could be done.

     But for now, a quick inventory seems appropriate, even if it is only (and necessarily) partial.  It is good to take stock of one‛s blessings.

 * * *

     Koen‛s infectious belly laugh when Brad tickles him, and the way he‛s started spontaeously hugging me.  Madeline‛s pride in her artwork, and how she insists on showing us each and every piece of paper from school.  The way Emma can turn a phrase.

     I‛m thankful for all the things I don‛t even know to be thankful for – and I ask to learn how to see them, and thus to enlarge my compass of gratitude.  I am thankful for all the things I only understand dimly, like electricity and all that it enables.  I am thankful for creature comforts – my fleece robe, warm tea, and hot showers, for example – and I ask to be mindful of their costs, even as I enjoy them.

  

     I‛m thankful that Brad and I are able to generate income for our household.  I‛m thankful that we are learning to grow some of our own food.  I‛m thankful to have health insurance and reliable transportation.  I‛m thankful for our general health and all the miracles that our bodies comprise and make possible.  May we use our bodies wisely and keep them strong.

     I‛m thankful for the eggs our chickens lay and the rest of the potatoes and butternut squash that we‛re still enjoying from last year‛s harvest.  I‛m thankful for my vision, the doctors who saved it, and all the scientists whose dogged attention to detail down through the decades made that saving possible.

     I am thankful for rain and sunshine and seasons and the way the earthworms beneath the surface of our pasture are preparing the soil, right now, for the new fruit trees we will plant this year.  I‛m thankful for a warm bed, a cozy house, clean water, and the chance to help make my community a place where my grandchildren‛s grandchildren can flourish.  

     I am thankful for Brad, for our partnership and the crazy dreams it is bringing to life.  We have it good.  May we live worthy of these blessings.