Sometimes at the end of a long week it’s easy to forget the moments that touched our hearts in the midst of all the hustle and bustle, taking the time to sit down and think about them has left me with a grateful heart. Stopping to read what others have taken the time to share has also been a lovely reminder of the things in my life I’m thankful for.

Often it’s the big stuff I think about – family and love and all the good and wonderful things I’ve been blessed with, and sometimes it’s the smaller things, like the gentleman that held the door for me at the gas station or the blue jays that sometimes stop to visit me in the yard. This week my list is filled with the big things as well as a bunch of the little things.

 

I posted this sometime last year, originally written for Ten Thankful Things.

Since today is going to be filled with Thanksgiving activities,

I figured I’d share it again. I don’t think I could ever list all the things I’m so very thankful for,

but I managed to jot down a few to share with you . . .

1. Faith – God is the cornerstone of my life. He is the floor beneath me, the roof above me, and the walls that surround me. He is my shelter from the storm. Faith keeps me going when I am sure I can go no further. It is the promise and the hope I cling to when I feel I am falling. It is my light in the dark places, it is my anchor when I am adrift, and the wind in my sails when I haven’t strength enough to row. Faith is the hand that steadies me when I falter, it is my compass when I am lost. It is the voice that tells me I can when I think I cannot. Faith is the foundation on which I stand when my solid ground turns to quickly shifting sands beneath me.

2. Family – The ones who’ve surrounded me with love since the day I was born. The ones that have cradled me in love and acceptance and unconditional love throughout my life. The ones who still do and the ones who continue to fill a place in my heart even though they’ve parted from this life. I see their smiles when I close my eyes, I hear their voices in silent moments, and I feel the love they’ve given me, always. My Grandparents, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews will always be a part of me.

3. My Mother – My teacher, my protector, my inspiration, my mentor, my friend. She carried me within her and then held me in her arms, she took me by the hand and by the heart and led me into life. Sometimes I followed her, sometimes she let me lead. She sacrificed and she gave, she sheltered and she pushed. She gave me wings and she taught me to fly. She has been my hero, my guardian, and my guide. She’s picked me up when I’ve fallen and she’s found me when I’ve been lost. She is everything I could ever hope to be.

4. My Father, My dad – My father planted the seed of life, my life. The twists and turns life’s journey sometimes takes placed us on different roads and he loved me enough to travel another until the day came when our paths would meet again and we would walk together as he’d one day dreamed we would. Now we know the way to where the other resides. My dad was not the man who planted the seed, but he lovingly tended to the garden in which I grew. He tilled and toiled in the soil as he watched me bloom and blossom. He nourished the ground beneath me, he made certain my roots were planted firmly. Those twists and turns led him away one day, but the care he took when he had it to give left me strong enough to continue to grow in his absence.

5. My Husband – My first love, my forever love. I wasn’t going to fall in love. Ever. I decided it when I was just a little girl, and then, when I was still a little girl in many ways – I fell in love with him. They said at 16 love is something you don’t fall into, but I did. He changed me and he changes me still. Something in his eyes told me love doesn’t always hurt, it doesn’t always end in pain and it wasn’t something I should deny myself. Even when I thought ours wasn’t going to be a story with a happy ending, I was still glad to have been a part of it, and as the pages continued to turn, the story kept unfolding and it has yet to end.

6. My Children – They are the reason every breath I take has meaning. They are my sun and my moon and every beat of my heart. They each came into my life, little pieces of love and completed something in me, they filled voids I didn’t know were hollow. I thought I knew the true meaning of love and then they looked into my eyes and I realized love was so much more than I’d ever known it to be. My life began the day theirs did, a new beginning with each tiny heart that began to beat. Never has there been a more beautiful sound. I used to hold their little hands in mine, and now they hold my hand in theirs and each of them carry a piece of my heart wherever they go.

7. Friends – I’ve been blessed by friendship. Somehow, through some miracle of love, I’ve chose and been chosen back by the best of the best and I’ve not words enough to describe the joys they have given me. I don’t surround myself with them, yet they surround me always. I’ve known some for nearly a lifetime, some for what seems like the blink of an eye, and yet, in my heart – they all reside. I’m so very different from most of them and they are each different from the others, but we have a connection that bridges those differences and leads us to a beautiful place. I don’t know if I am a good friend, I hope I am. I sometimes go for long spells without reaching out, I don’t chat on the phone for hours or hang out, but I’m there if they need me and I know they are there when I need them. Some of us have held hands, we’ve shared hugs and tears and laughter. Some of us appear to each other as letter after letter beneath the blinking cursor on a screen or visit each other through inboxes and emails, but I can feel the hugs we sometimes share just the same.

8. Words – I reside in a world of words, the characters that come together to form them, creating sentences and paragraphs; chapters and verses. Words are my safe place, my way of reaching out to the world beyond me and the one within me. Words come into my soul, they release or they capture what resides there. Words written on a page transform me, they become a part of me, they bring me solace and comfort and healing. When I read them I’m transported to the magical place where they were born and when I write them, they become my own magical place. Without words I would wither on the proverbial vine, without voice, without escape. I find sanctuary within them, they offer me respite when I am weary and they provide company when I am alone. Words have been my constant and faithful companions in life, words have never failed me.

9. Books – My first friends in life. Stories real and imagined. Histories, heroines, and heroes. Underdogs, villains, and victors. I’ve been to far off places, made up lands, and real life destinations though I’ve never travelled far. I’ve had adventures, I’ve been on quests and crusades, I’ve loved and I’ve lost and I’ve taken fantastical journeys and come home again. I’ve battled monsters and I’ve been where angels have tread. I have read my way into the future and traveled into the past. I’ve soared above the clouds and I’ve explored the depths of the earth. I’ve seen more than I ever knew there was to see. I became a part of every story I’ve ever read and there are still worlds and words out there, waiting for me.

10. Technology – It seems an odd way to end my list of thankful things, but without it, I wouldn’t have some of the friends I have today. I wouldn’t know some of the things I know. I couldn’t have done some of the things I have done, so it is certainly among the things I am so very thankful for. The world I grew up in was quite different from the one we now live in. In some ways I miss the days before computers connected us, and in other ways, I cannot imagine life without them. Vast amounts of knowledge are just a few keystrokes from me at any time, friends and family can be reached with the touch of a button. Books and music are just a mouse-click away.  But still, the excitement of receiving a letter in the mail or the anticipation of who’s on the other end of the line when the phone rings are things I sometimes miss. I often tell myself I’ll take the time to sit and write to someone the old-fashioned way, but I don’t do it often enough. I love the sound of a pen gliding across a piece of paper and the smell of ink before it dries. I still prefer the feeling of paper pages and revel in the sound they make when I turn from one to the next as I read. I do love this little world I have found behind the computer screen though . . .

100 Random Things I’m Thankful For

1. coffee
2. things that smell like coconut
3. the sound of my dog’s nails clicking down the hallway
4. the sound the wind makes
5. raindrops
6. rainbows
7. fresh sheets
8. hearing from an old friend
9. naps
10. smiles from strangers
11. nights that turn into mornings
12. days that turn into nights
13. paydays
14. crisp apples
15. ripe avocados
16. remembering something
17. finding something I thought was lost
18. Pinterest
19. dictionary.com
20. the thesaurus
21. moments of silence
22. getting a great idea
23. learning something new
24. sweet tea
25. earplugs
26. bottled water
27. new books
28. old books
29. blogs
30. Facebook
31. friends
32. memories
33. silver change
34. cake
35. insulin
36. fluffy clouds
37. candles
38. DVRs
39. Nutella
40. good hair days
41. starting something new
42. finishing something
43. comfortable shoes
44. shirts without tags
45. empty journals
46. filled journals
47. gel pens
48. unbroken fingernails
49. ceiling fans
50. digital cameras
51. ladybugs
52. butterflies
53. sale prices
54. art
55. epiphanies
56. moments of serendipity
57. music
58. snuggly blankets
59. blooming flowers
60. Wifi
61. funny jokes
62. cell phones
63. body pillows
64. cotton t-shirts
65. stretchy jeans
66. waterfalls
67. blessings in disguise
68. old photo albums
69. comfortable chairs
70. memory foam mattresses
71. freedom
72. people who write books
73. self adhesive stamps
74. bookmarks
75. squishy stress balls
76. bookstores
77. piggy banks
78. comfy bras
79. gift bags
80. dreams that come true
81. window shades
82. crackling campfires
83. reusable grocery bags
84. nice people
85. banana walnut muffins
86. home
87. floss toothpicks
88. sharp scissors
89. comfortable pajamas
90. junk drawers
91. flash drives
92. empty roads
93. sticky notes
94. bookshelves
95. cream cheese frosting
96. closet space
97. good lighting
98. Olive Garden breadsticks
99. reading glasses
100. thousands of other things