THANK YOU, DADDY!!

Happy Thanksgiving day to all who are visiting here today. I hope your day is filled with reunions, and joy, and may God grant you a heart of thankfulness. I have decided to list a few of the things I am thankful for, as a way of sharing with you just how important and fulfilling giving thanks to God really is.

Recently, my daughter and I have been discussing whether we should dedicate a wall in our kitchen/dining room to giving thanks to God. What’s the best way to do it? My first thought was to use Sharpies (permanent black markers), and just write on the wall. However, that would leave the wall unable to be painted, ever. You see, indelible marker bleeds through any paint known to man.

Then, my mind began thinking of ways. We could post a huge bulletin board, or tape little post-it notes with our thanks on the wall. Each day, we would write something new we were thankful for. Post-it notes? Needless to say, I’m back to the sharpies directly on the wall. Something about the permanence of it strikes me as good.

The other thought is that I don’t want it to be something of an image-driven activity. People will see this wall, and I can imagine the comments already. “Oh! What a wonderful idea!! Showing your thanks for God, for ALL to see!” Okay, on the one hand, showing I am thankful is not necessarily bad. However, I don’t want the compliments, or the pride that might go with it. That is the biggest hindrance to our start right now. So, I am hoping to do this, because I feel strongly about writing it down, in a place Ally and I see every day. But, I am leery of how it will LOOK.

I believe that to remember the Lord in thankfulness will set my day. Thankful people are usually happy people, whereas people who forget to be thankful can often get stuck pondering only the things that are wrong with their lives. There will ALWAYS be something to complain about (like why I keep hitting the semi-colon when I really want to strike the apostrophe!), but how often do we also remember that there is ALWAYS something to be thankful for? Here’s my list.

Thank you, God, for….

1. SALVATION!!!
2. my little girl, who isn’t so little anymore
3. for a certain new friend who has been a source of joy to me beyond anything I could have hoped for. You know who you are
4. the forest down the road from me
5. the squirrels in my yard, yes, even the fat grey ones who are so large by now, they can barely hop.
6. a warm house, warm clothes, and Your warm heart
7. all You have provided us with this last year.
8. Oscar and Blackie, our two fish swimming serenely (most of the time) in their tank.
9. the men in the Boy’s Club, each and every one of them
10. green grass in the spring, and white snow in the winter, golden and red leaves in the fall, and overbearing, sweltering heat in the summer. (I love hot, hot days)
11. Brett and Sherrie, Amber and Brandon, Glenn and Beth, Winston, Torie, and Mackenzie, and a whole earthly host of future heaven dwellers.
12. Dr. Jon, and his heart to serve you, and his country.
13. Dr. Mike, thank you for giving him back to us two years ago.
14. all those who visit here, and leave their pearls of wisdom, and encouragement. It means more to me than any pot of gold.
15. Reeces Peanut butter cups!! Yeah!!!
16. Silence
17. Hope
18. any days to come which I have not lived
19. all days past which You showed me how to live
20. Forgiveness
21. Wood
22. Healthy hands
23. Books
24. Trouble and pain, without which, we would not have learned how to appreciate all the good things You give us.
25. my little red Mustang. Vroooooom!!! Vrooooom!!
26. my rusty grey pick-up truck. 239,000 miles and counting. Amazing!! I’ve been to the moon, and I’m on my way back.
27. Ally’s recent willingness to talk.
28. Opening my eyes to other people’s perspectives.
29. power tools!!!
30. Light. I truly do not like the dark
31. Electronic gadgets that are so easy to figure out, it makes you wonder why it took the manufacturer two hundred pages to explain how they work?
32. rest
33. teaching me patience through not giving me everything I want right away, or ever.
34. helping me to remember that this list is about You, God, not me.
35. wisdom. Someday, I’ll be thanking You for giving me some.
36. Help when least expected
37. the safety of all the people I love
38. the beautiful yard I see everyday behind my house
39. Deer, and all other manner of wildlife.
40. Diet Pepsi, since Coke probably won’t be made for much longer. Hah ha!! : )
41. memories, even painful ones
42. color
43. humor
44. tears
45. the night sky in the deep north woods. Wow!!!!
46. that my Achilles tendon has not yet torn all the way
47. that despite my tendency to ignore maintaining my body, heck, to my absolute abuse of it, that You have kept me healthy regardless.
48. butterflies in my stomach
49. that You have made me able to feel my heart constantly.
50. Carpenter Jeans, of which I really DO use all of the neat pockets.


I am now smiling ear to ear. Thank you for that, God, as well.