Thanksgiving: The Little Things.

Today is Thanksgiving Eve.  It's been a beautiful November day here in Florida ... sunny, mid-70's and breezy.  Both my little ladies are napping, Food Network is on in the background and there's a fat orange cat sitting behind my head on the sofa.  It's been a quiet day, but a busy week. 

Last night, once the babies were in bed, I pulled out my laptop and started thinking about this place ... this place as in my blog.  Since this is my first November post (pathetic, I know) and the day before Thanksgiving, I wanted something good to write about.  Instead of coming here, I ended up where most good internet fanatics do -- Facebook.  I scrolled my home page looking for something interesting to read.  Not much there other than gossip and talk of turkey.  I logged out ... closed the lap top ... and just sat staring at the Christmas tree.  Appropriately, I started thinking about my blessings - the big ones like family, health, faith, good friends, and so on.  And I thought why, at Thanksgiving, do we only talk about our thankfulness for family and friends?  We should be doing that every day.  Yes, I know, most of you are thankful and you probably even thank the Lord for your family at some point on a daily basis, but we seem to always talk about the same thing(s) every year.  I sound heartless ... I'm aware of that ... and I'm not making light of family because I have the best family there is.  But, instead of talking about the BIG things, I've decided I want to talk about the LITTLE things that make day to day life enjoyable.  It's a small list (no pun intended), and I hope it inspires you to think about all the little things you're thankful for this year. 

• Coffee.  Whether I'm up at 6:00 A.M. or my children let me sleep past 9:30, Folgers makes my mornings a little more enjoyable.
• Christmas Lights. 
• Lotion.  Weird, I know.  But have your hands ever felt super dried out and craving moisture, yet you don't have any lotion on you?  Once you finally have some in your grasp, don't you feel about thirty times better?  You know what I'm talking about ... don't act like you don't.  
• Ceiling Fans.  
• Light Bulbs. 
• Chap Stick.  This ties in to what I said about lotion ... but for your lips. 
• Netflix. 
• Toilet Paper. 
• Mascara.  Those of us who are natural blondes with blonde eyelashes are extra thankful for this.
• Chocolate. 
• Forks.  Imagine everyone at your table tomorrow trying to eat cranberry sauce with their fingers.  Did you picture it?  Not pretty, huh?  Aren't you thankful for forks?
• Clorox Wipes.  
• Dishwashers. 
• Tooth Paste. 
• Baby Monitors.  I honestly don't know how my generations' parents survived without these things.  If I didn't have one, I'd never get any sleep at night due to sitting up worrying about my children.  
• And finally, Hot Showers at the end of a tiring day ... so relaxing.

There are dozens and dozens of things that I'm thankful for ... not just at Thanksgiving, but every day of the year.  And I hope that tomorrow, when you're sitting around with Granny and Gramps listening to stories that you've heard forty-two times ... or having to suffer through awkward conversations with your Uncle Larry ... or entertaining your cousins who get on your nerves, that you will remember all the things you are thankful for - BIG and SMALL.

Count your blessings, and have a safe & very happy Thanksgiving!  

Choosing to Love.

Yesterday was Sunday...and in our household, Sunday's are about faith and family.  It's church service in the morning, followed by lunch, and then if we're lucky, relaxation.  We had an unusually busy Saturday this weekend.  I was supposed to participate in our local Breast Cancer Walk, but woke up feeling utterly exhausted and gross.  After making the executive decision to stay home with my daughter and husband, the guilt set in.  I went so far as to asking God for forgiveness for bailing out on my team.  Forgiveness for what, I still don't know...failing to participate in a community walk isn't a sin, but somehow uttering that tiny prayer made me feel a little less guilty.

G is in the green.  Her new buddy is on the right.

Later on Saturday, we visited some good friends of ours who we've been trying to get together with for months...maybe longer than months.  Actually, the last time we saw each other was when my daughter was a newborn - she'll be two this January.  So yeah, it's been awhile.  They were having a get together at their church - it was on a farm out in the country.  It was beautiful.  Our daughters played until they were completely pooped.  Following the farm, M (my husband) and I, along with our munchkin had dinner plans with Grandmom and Poppie - those are my parents.  So, off we go, for another socializing affair.  It was a great time though.  Nothing goes together better than food and family.  By the time we had finished up dinner, it was close to 8:30 and we had an hour drive back home.  Little G hadn't had her daily nap, and had been fussy earlier that evening.  I was dreading the 50 mile drive home with a tired, whiny baby.  Surprisingly, with a tummy full of homemade macaroni and cheese, G fell asleep in less then 10 minutes.  My husband and I were most thankful for the quiet drive home.

And now, we're up to Sunday morning.  Got up, made waffles and eggs, and I tried to compile a grocery list over breakfast.  It didn't happen.  I mentioned to M about possibly skipping church, but then I knew how much G loves her Sunday school class.  So, in a rush to get out the door on time, I did a quick inventory of the pantry, shoved my ingredients' list for lasagna into my purse, and we were soon on our way.  We pulled into church with 3 minutes to spare.  Found our usual seat, and I got comfortable waiting for the service to start.  Praise and worship began, but I was distracted.  Everything was on my mind, except what should have been.  I was aggravated that I hadn't completed my grocery list.  I wondered what my next blog topic would be - what do people really want to read?  I was annoyed that there is constantly an endless amount of laundry strewn across my bedroom floor.  I was stressed over the thought of trying to stay within our weekly grocery budget.  I kept thinking about wanting to be a homeowner soon, and how scary that reality is - can we afford that right now?  There I was, in that sanctuary, with all these crazy things going through my mind, and all the while going through the motions of praise.  Then the music pastor said something to this effect, "Imagine if we lived out our faith in a way that we truly impacted our immediate social circle.  Think of how different our community would be...how different Florida would be....how different our country would be."  That got my attention.

Christian faith is all about love.  We choose to love - although some might argue with that.  When we are angry with them, we choose to love our spouses, our children, our siblings, our parents, our best friends, even strangers.  Some people are undoubtedly easier to love than others, but showing love to most anyone is a choice.  After hearing the pastor's words, and flipping through pictures taken this weekend, I came across the pic I posted earlier.  I thought back to Saturday, and watching those two little girls, who had never met, interact with one another in such a loving manner.  There is so much we can learn from children...so much about life, about one another, about loving each other.  Looking at the photo reminds me of the more important things in life - not grocery lists, bills, blogs, or mortgage payments - but family, faith and love.