thankful thursdays 1/12

Jan 12, 2012

It has been a while since I posted a Thankful Thursdays post. Since December 8th, in fact. It’s not that I haven’t been grateful during that time, just that I have been focusing on other things.

Today, I am tired and a tad bit overwhelmed. I have six gymnastics classes in the morning that I still need to make lesson plans for, a youth colloquium at my home tomorrow night, an adult Worldviews class at my home on Saturday, two iFamily classes to plan out for this semester, almost daily rehearsals for Blythe’s coming-up-in-a-few-weeks play, a doula client due soon, a sick husband, bread rising on the counter, dinner in the oven, a school room that needs cleaned from a busy week of learning, piles of laundry, and a Relief Society (women’s organization for my church) meeting to attend in a few minutes. I haven’t eaten anything yet today except for some leftover-from-my-stocking Hershey’s Kisses (I missed breakfast because I was putting in a group order for art supplies for iFamily and I missed lunch because I was on the phone and Fisher accidently ate my portion) and I am so hungry I think I could scream. Even though I think I could benefit from tonight’s meeting and I will miss the fellowship with my fellow sisters, I think I am going to skip the Relief Society meeting because I don’t want to be away from my children tonight since I will be away from them tomorrow night and Saturday.

Busy. I hate that word…and yet I am. I am in a busy season of my life. But still, tonight, in order to feed my soul, I must take the time to think of my blessings.

• My dear friend, Amy, made me a beautiful crocheted matzah cover for our Passover Seder. She reached right into our most meaningful celebration of the year and gave me something to make it even more wonderful. Pictures are coming, but I simply can’t add another thing to my plate tonight. Thank you, dear friend. Thank you for stitching up your heart and offering it to me in something we will cherish forever.
• I am so grateful for all the amazing kindnesses that were shown to our family throughout the holiday season. We were truly blessed by many Christmas angels who gave us their hearts, their gifts, their presence, and their means. Thank you, thank you, thank you and may God bless each of you.
• Tonight I am grateful for freezer meals that I can throw into the oven and have a delicious meal pop out 90 minutes later. I could not function without them.
• I am grateful for the sunshine my children were able to play in today. I love hearing them run around our yard with glee all bundled up in their snow clothes.
• I am grateful for our morning devotional. Our time together in the morning is so special to me. We sing, read, pray, and learn from our scriptures together. We have this one ritual among the chaos of our lives that makes all the difference in how I feel about our days. If we have an uplifting, spiritual start to our day everything else falls into place and I feel effective and powerful in my mothering role.
• I am grateful for the library. Right now I have about 40 books checked out to help me prepare for my Zing! class. I don’t know what I would do without my library card for it would surely be a barren world.
• I am grateful for little boy moments. He is so endearing right now. He still wants to snuggle with me. He still kisses me. He still waits until the last moment to go to the bathroom and does a full-body dance to help him make it to the toilet. He still loves me to read to him. He still wants to show me everything he builds or creates. He still thinks his papa is the most wonderful hero in the world. He still loves Jesus in a simple way. He still tells me about his nightmares. He still thinks I know pretty much everything. These moments will pass all too soon and I will have a grown-up man on my hands!
• I am grateful for my grandmother’s aprons. I have several of them and I wear them while I work in my kitchen. Just wearing them grounds me and helps me remember what is important and how grateful I am to have a family to cook and clean for. They help me remember how deeply and purely she loved those around her. They help me remember how much I want to mother like she did.
• I am grateful for mechanical pencils. I love them. I love writing with them and I especially love erasing with them. They are one of my favorite things, which is good, since I have been using one ALL.DAY.LONG.
• I am grateful for friends and family and God and grass and warm water and long baths and mountains and food and smiles and love. Most of all, I am grateful for love. It feeds me. Daily.