Thankfulness



A beautiful day



I'm a little leery to allow myself to believe that 2011 has begun on anything other than a good note.  Therefore I've decided to be thankful for all that I've received in the past 48 hours.  My prayers today go something like this:

Dear God,



Thank you so much for giving me a family made up of people with good humor, good taste, and the ability to not take everything too seriously.  Added to that, we are fortunate to have some really good cooks in the family (thanks Jess!). 

Thank you so much for allowing me to be born into a family in which family comes first.  Even when I need to call my brother to come rescue me and my kids when my car breaks down in the middle of nowhere.  He came right away even though he didn't feel well, even though we were an hour away from him, even though it was dark.  He helped us without question and met us where we were stranded with a hug and a smile and the promise of coffee.  I am thankful beyond belief (as are my kids), that we just happened to break down when I pulled over into a closed gas station so that the girls could take off their coats instead of while heading up the mountain.  I am so thankful that we broke down directly in front of a phonebooth - which are scarce as hens' teeth especially in the middle of a forest!  And especially since we had no cell phone service!  I am so thankful that I was able to get through to AAA even though none of my other calls to other people except to my brother went through.  And AAA sent a woman to us who lived right up the road and she stayed with us and talked to us and gave us options as to what we could do.  She really put my us at ease.

Thank you God, so much for other total strangers who were willing to give a helping hand.  Even if that meant pounding on our door at 5:00 in the morning to tell us that our cow was standing on the road.  And that stranger waited until we had things under control.  I'm also thankful that my husband wasn't at work because, quite frankly, the cow makes me a bit nervous.  And I am so thankful that none of the other animals escaped. 

Thank you God for good friends who are going through a rough time right now to whom I've not been overly friendly.  I'm thankful that they are able to overlook my social anxiety and tendencies to hermitism (new word!) and are still willing to accept me as a friend.  I pray that you give them all the strength they need to get through this time and to know the pain subsides after awhile.  Even though I can't say it, I love them. And they have always been good to my family.

I was so going to put a different twist on this post.  But I've found that when I write it, I am most sincere in my thankfulness.  This morning when I dragged myself in after spending an hour mending a fence, I wondered what I had done to deserve this start to the New Year.  But in the few minutes it has taken me to write about it, I realize how blessed we are.  How truly, truly blessed.  And I pray that everyone is cared for in the way that we have been the past two days.