The ABCs of Thanksgiving

Tomorrow I will be so very busy giving thanks and being with family and just enjoying the day. I doubt there will be an actual Thanksgiving Day post. So, in the spirit of the day, I decided to post my Thanksgiving list. You must humor me in that I am a school teachers so ABC's and 1,2,3's just come easy to me. Obviously the thing I am MOST thankful for this year and any year is the fact that I am of the redeemed. Jesus Christ has taken up residence in this heart of mine and I belong to Him. The list below is a list of things in the here and now that are not eternal that I am so very thankful for.

A is for affection. I have a wonderful husband, a loving family, an excellent circle of friends (although most of them are painfully far away), and a growing church family. I am so blessed.

B is for babies. I have several friends this year whom God has blessed with new babies. Each one is the "cutest" and each one is a miracle. I have prayed for most of those pregnancies, so I consider myself an aunt by prayer, even though I am not an aunt by blood.

C is for coffee. I know this may seem trivial to some, but if I had to go without coffee, there would be few others in the world giving thanks for my presence. So, I am thankful for coffee.

D is for dishes. I am a strange person, I know, but if I have to choose a chore to be thankful for, I choose dishes because a sink full of dirty dishes means there is a houseful of satisfied and happy people. I am thankful that America is still a land of plenty.

E is for energy. Last year around this time I had just begun my struggle with headaches and migraines and such. I am so very grateful that one year later, although I still deal with the pain, I am learning how to cope with the pain and I have energy once again.

F is for faith. Life is hard. I am not sure how people who do not have God and a hope of a better future get through.

G is for Grandparents. My Grandparents are such a blessing in my life. They love me so unconditionally. I have a confession that sometimes children between the ages of 8 and 15 drive me crazy. They are sticky always. They smell like gym socks. AND, they think they know everything. I am thankful that through all those times, my Grandparents still thought I was the cats pajamas. Thanks guys....I love you.

H is for hardwood floors and history. I am so thankful for my new house (leaky water pipes and all). One of the things I fell in love with was the fact that I have hardwood floors and not carpets. I HATE carpet. Obviously, since I am a history teacher I would probably have a love of history. I always have. I would rather go to a museum than an amusement park.

I is for Ice Cream. Any flavor, any time, in any weather....I love Ice Cream.

J is for Jelly Bellys. There is nothing more fun than grabbing a bag of jelly belly jelly beans and guessing the flavors as you eat your way through the bag. Maybe I am just simple minded, but I love that.

K is for kids. I love my job. I get to be with kids all day long and they always have a way of making me smile. Yes, there are days where I do sit down at my desk and seriously rethink my career choice. But, overall, I love working with kids and that feeling of helping them learn new and interesting things.

L is for love. I am so very thankful for all the kinds of love that we have. Of course, the Love of the Heavenly Father is beyond compare with anything we have here on earth. I am thankful that I have that love in my life. I am thankful for the "all-kinds-of weather" love that I have from my hubby. He loves me when I burn the dinner, when the house is a wreck, when I am happy, and when I am crabby. He is a blessing. I am also thankful for family love. Mom, Dad, sister, and brother-in-law. I love them.

M is for mutts. We have a dog. While he is frequently a source of complaining on this blog for me, he is a joy to have in our home.

N is for night skies. I love clear nights with full moons and zillions of stars. It always reminds me of how BIG our God is.

O is for older folks. Now, before any of my "old folks" reading this blog get annoyed by that comment, let me explain. I LOVE history. So, when I get the chance, I seek out an "older folk" type person to chat with. I want to soak in all the "I was there" history I can get from them.

P is for parents. God blessed me with a very godly family and parents who loves me and wanted me to turn out to be a woman of integrity. I love them and am so very thankful for how they pushed me to be the best I could be.

Q is for quilts. I think quilts are so beautiful and special. Nothing says "home sweet home" like a quilt on the bed.

R is for Rachel. I am so very thankful for the one and only sister I have. I could not ask for a better one. I love her.

S is for summertime. I love all things summer. Summer fruits, summer games, summers off from school, summer days, summer celebrations, summer cookouts, summer beach trips. There are very few things about summer that so not make me smile.

T is for turkey. We have switched to healthy cooking at our house (or at least making an attempt). So, we have switched to turkey burger and turkey breast for sandwiches. It is a great meat and I am thankful that it is a healthy choice that we both like.

U is for umbrellas. I live in Florida. Enough said.

V is for violins. I love the sound of a violin playing. I learned to play the piano, but I think deep down inside I would have liked to learn to play the violin.

W is for washing machines. My hubby got me a new washing machine about 8 months ago because ours died. I am so very thankful for such a wonderful machine. I do not know how the pioneer women did it...because I sometimes struggle getting laundry done as it is...imagine hauling it to the river to beat it on the rocks. No wonder they wore the same clothes all the time.

X is for...well, I am not really thankful for anything that begins with X. I am not a fan of getting x-rays (although I am glad they exist). I am thankful for the xerox machines at work (when they do not jam...which is hourly). I am not a huge fan of xylophone music. So, for x, we will just be leaving that as it is.

Y is for yummy. I am thankful that we have taste buds and options. How boring would life be is everything tasted the same. I am thankful for all things "yummy."

Z is for zest. I mean this in two ways. First of all, I really do love zesting a lemon or an orange and the yummy smell that comes into my house. But, on a bigger scale...I am thankful for youth and the zest for life that comes with it.

Thanks for hanging in there for that list...Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving full of things to be grateful for.