An Attitude of Gratitude

Part of what I'm trying to show the twins during our month of thankfulness is that thankfulness is habit.  Taking time to stop and recognize what we are thankful for each day quickly turns into (pardon the rhyme) an attitude of gratitude that overflows into the rest of your day.  I find that it happens each November.  I spend so much of my day thinking about how thankful I am for things, and what I want to be most thankful about from each day, that soon there is a current of gratitude running through my day and changing my perspective.  I have seen, this year, that the twins are saying more often during the day, "I think I will be thankful for this," or "That makes me feel thankful."  Now to get that to overflow into the rest of the year...

November 12, We Are Thankful For:

Ryan: Candy.  In all fairness, he said his caterpillars first.  But Lucas was taking care of the thankfulness leaves this evening and he suggested Ryan try to be thankful for something else...and Ryan's backup was candy.  He has only had 2 answers thus far.  Apparently, he holds few things truly dear, but what he loves he REALLY loves :)

Allie: All My Babies.  While she has had varied answers, she is fairly consistent as well.  And I love that the things they are thankful for most are the toys for which they feel a love and protectiveness.  

Me:  A productive morning.  I don't know what it is about Mondays, but it frequently feels like the pace of the week is established on Monday (and realistically, the morning is key.  I am at my most productive in the morning).  If I don't get much accomplished on Monday morning, the whole week tends to be less productive.  But if I can start my Monday strong, there is a good foundation for productivity throughout the week.  Monday morning I managed to get the laundry under control and organized a bunch of clutter-catching spots in the house, and did some dishes.  I tackled several projects that had been in my mind to get finished.  By naptime, I had accomplished a lot...which was good...because during naptime I somehow hurt my back and it killed the majority of my productivity the rest of the day...

Craigslist.  I can't decide if it is a little awesome or sad that this isn't the first time craigslist has been featured on my thankful list.  But craigslist was truly a lifesaver.  The glass top on our oven cracked, and the crack went through 3 of the burners.  We were sort of limping along with the 1 burner, but I kept wondering if maybe we should check into fixing it.  I finally did some research online and discovered that 1) it was really dangerous to be using even the burner without the crack and we should stop immediately, and 2) while you can buy replacement tops, they tend to be expensive and most people opt for a completely new oven.  Yikes.  Our budget didn't have the room for a brand new oven, so I started looking on craigslist and found almost the exact same stove, a newer model, by a dealer who guarantees his product!  Hallelujah!  I also had been looking online for months for a specific kind of table that I could turn into a train table for the kids for Christmas (real train tables are crazy expensive, and I felt pretty confident I could make something else work just as well for a lot less).  I happened to find the PERFECT table!  Basically, through craigslist we got an oven and train table for the price of what a new train table usually costs!

Time with friends.  It just so happened that the town where we had to go for our new oven is the town where our dear friends moved a little less than a year ago.  So we stopped in and had a quick visit with them.  Even if it is short, time with these friends is always a blessing.  The laughter alone is worth the trip :)

November 13, We Are Thankful For:

Ryan: Candy.  Now that his focus has switched...

Allie: Tree.  She was pointing to the Thankful Tree when she said this...so I'm assuming she is thankful for the tree documenting their thankfuls.  Or she might just be thankful for trees.  She does really love them...

Me: TV.  It's so sad that I'm thankful for this again!  But I hurt my back (again), and I really needed to be immobile and on ice or heat.  On a good day I could have come up with something other than tv to occupy them, but they seemed crankier than normal and I was exhausted (daylight savings really throws us for a loop every year sleep-wise).  So tv was a lifesaver. 
A great afternoon of ministry.  Sometimes it is just nice to know that God is using you where He has you.
Swim Lessons.  The twins love it.  I get to see my friend.  And Allie wore her goggles to help her go under the water (for the first time...my talk not to go in the water without their floaties really worked...).  She looked cute and she dunked her face!  A perfect evening.

November 14, We Are Thankful For:

Ryan: Candy.  I asked him if he was thankful for anything else, and he responded, "Mom,  said candy.  Just candy."  He knows what he likes...

Allie: My Orange Seahorse.  Another garage sale treasure.  The girl loves seahorses.

Me: Feeling better.  I have so much I want to get done before next week (and to start working on Christmas presents - like the train table)!  But first the virus was dragging me down and then I hurt my back! I finally felt better enough to start tackling some of the projects - namely organizing my craft room (to have space to work on the train table) and organizing the twins room (to get ready for the new beds that Papa made).  Both were accomplished (as well as 4 loads of laundry and the dishes and weeding out the too-small clothes from the twins' closet).
Grace.  Sadly, the twins seem to have picked up colds.  They were up during the night coughing and had runny noses and scratchy-sounding throats all day.  At one point Allie felt like she might be running a low-grade fever.  The lack of sleep and cranky kids made the day difficult.  And since I was trying to accomplish a lot while not feeling 100% myself, there were some moments where I got grumpy.  Grace from my children and husband is much appreciated.  They forgave my moments of breakdown.  Grace from my heavenly Father is even more appreciated.  Knowing that I receive unending forgiveness and grace from Him makes every day worth living.  I will keep trying to focus on Him and pray that he changes me to be more like Him...so that I need to request forgiveness and grace from my family less.  Clearly the attitude of gratitude hasn't overflowed into EVERY moment...