I Am So Thankful For ...

I am so thankful that I enjoy writing and reading—even if they don’t get me far in life … the pleasure I get from them is more than enough. I am so thankful that crooked teeth and gaps are the only 'real' problem my thirteen-year-old daughter has. I am so thankful that I am able to have my kids with me, even in poverty. I wouldn’t trade one second of my time with my kids—moments like when my five year old asks, “How much do you love me, Mommy?” and I respond, “Oh, Hannah, I love you way past this whole universe and the stars and the farthest planets, … ” then she’ll giggle and tell me, “Oh, yah? Well, I love you sixty-five, one hundred and fifty thousand hundred, ninety-nine!! And past the whole world and the universe!” How can I beat that? One time we were playing that ‘I love you more than you love me’ game and she stifled me. She started saying, “Oh, yah? Well, I love you more than you love Lexi ... or Haley ... or Nick ... ” (those are the names of her siblings) I remember choking back the reality that she stumped me ... she was only four at the time. All of my children say and do the sweetest things sometimes—they really know how to melt me down. It’s so fun to come up with new and innovative ways of saying, “I love you” to them. Children are so good at it. As a parent, we have these learned, responsible, sometimes even less understandable, ways of saying that. To kids, it just comes so natural to wear their hearts on their sleeves. I am so eternally thankful for the privilege of having this in my life. I am so thankful that my children love others, also. Sure, they quarrel with me and with each other, but overall, they have a genuine love for people.

I am so thankful that God has given all of this to me, which, I believe He intends for everyone to have. The funny thing is, it has been here all along for everyone and it would be so wonderful if people could just accept it and 'feel' it and live it. I always ‘thought’ I was happy and that I was a ‘good mom’ until I woke up one day in rehab and realized I was actually really ‘feeling’ things and that is when God revealed himself to me. It was truly the most incredible feeling I have ever felt ... like a bolt of reality just hitting me on the head and entering my heart and healing my soul. I am so thankful ...

I am so thankful for my realm of friends.