It is Thanksgiving Eve, a day of lunch preparations, kids running wild, time spent with family. I am so very thankful of those things, but I am more thankful for the bad things in my life.
I am thankful for a small house.
I would love a bigger house. Maybe one day we will have a bigger house, but for now I am thankful for my small 1400 square foot house. It provides a roof over our heads. I do not have to yell very loudly as everything is within talking distance. I do not have as much to clean. Our bills are not very high, including our insurance and mortgage. Finally, it limits my spending because if you have no where to put things, you just don’t buy things.
I am thankful for fights with my husband.
Very few people love fighting or conflict, and though I do enjoy a good debate, I am no exception. However, I am thankful that our relationship is worth fighting for and I am thankful that my husband is not afraid to face conflict. We do not always have “healthy” arguments. We have our share of passive aggressiveness and blaming. The point is that we are both willing to bring our problems to each other and continue to improve our relationship. In marriage you will be constantly trying to improve your relationship or, I dare say, you will not have a marriage to improve for very long.
I am thankful that I have a strong-willed daughter.
She is not an easy child. She is only 3.5, but she is mighty. She will look you straight in the face and do what you specifically asked her not to do. Sometimes she is a bully at our small home daycare. She is stubborn and defiant at times, and many times my husband and I are at our wits’ end of what to do. Trust me, we have tried all the discipline methods. I am sure there is room for improvement, but there is no grace with this child.
You give her an inch, and she will take five yards. I am thankful for this because I know these traits will help her become a strong, confident, woman one day. I am thankful that God has given me the opportunity to mold her (with His help of course). I am thankful for her because it helps my marital relationship as we really have to be on the same page. My daughter keeps me honest and she keeps me strong. She also teaches me that it is okay to have time to yourself. In all honesty, we have to have a little of what I like to call, “Mommy sanity-saving time.” Every day. That simply means we have a quiet hour (or two hours) almost every day.
I am thankful that my family lives far away (most of them).
Now, I love my family, so before you leave this page, I challenge you to appreciate your family. I say I am thankful they live far away because it makes me appreciate them so much more. I cannot just call my mom up to come babysit or drop my kids off at my in-law’s house when I have an appointment or need to run errands (yes, I bring my kids with me most of the time). I cannot go out of town on a whim and know that family will take care of my kids. I don’t have someone to watch my kids for free while I am at work. I have to actually pay for child care. There are many times having family close by would make life so much easier, but how much more so I appreciate my family when they are near.
I am thankful for a messy house.
And it is a mess. Laundry piles everywhere. Toys on the floor, crumbs left over from dinner. Life with children is a mess, a beautiful, crazy messed up life. I would not have it any other way (well, maybe a housekeeper one day).
Finally, and on a more somber note, I am thankful for cancer.
I hate cancer. The very definition of the word is repulsing. I hate what cancer does to people and their family. It is a painful disease to watch. Both of my grandfathers passed away from cancer when I was in high school. My husband has lost three people he loved dearly to cancer just in the last few years. He had an aunt and an uncle lose the fight with cancer. My mother-in-law lost the fight with cancer a little over two years ago. Our lives will never be the same. Yes, cancer makes me angry and it makes me grieve, but it makes me thankful. It makes me thankful for the time I have to spend with loved ones, knowing that life on Earth is fleeting. It makes me thankful for health. Cancer makes me thankful for love and life, and it reminds me of just how valuable life is.
On this Thanksgiving Eve, when you start to stress over dinner preparations and upcoming shopping, I hope you remember to be thankful. I hope you remember why you are making dinner and why you are buying gifts. I hope you remember to be thankful this season and all life long. Choose to be thankful, because you never know when you will not have a choice. Choose gratitude.
