'Tis Thanksgiving week and what do I have to be thankful for? The list, if there were one, would be way too long to list and way too personal to publish. I have my privacy to consider, but there are a few things I would like to list. I am thankful for:

The Lord God who loves me enough to forgive me of my sins and who created a path for me to be able to be with Him some day.

His Son, Jesus Christ, who died for me in such a horrible way, such a painful, terrifying death that I cannot even begin to imagine what He must have gone through. I read about it, but there is no way I can imagine what it feels like to be whipped with a cat-o-nine-tails until the flesh comes off my ribs; to be mocked and spit upon and slapped around after that horrible beating; to be made to carry part of the instrument of my own death until I could not walk another step because that part of the cross was too heavy for my torn flesh to endure; to be nailed to a cross in anguish and having no mercy from those who were doing this to me; to be raised up onto an upright, the weight of my body tearing my own flesh as the cross was righted and my blood flowed down my face, hands and feet. And finally, to be given bile (vinegar) to drink instead of water as I struggled to even draw a single breath to stay alive one moment longer, to keep my heart beating just one more beat as I hung there dying, knowing that I was dying and (worst of all) knowing that it was the sins of others for which I was doomed. When I think of that — and my part in it — I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I could not have done all of that for myself. I could not have done it for my sons whom I love so dearly. Not even for them could I have gone through what Jesus Christ did for me. And for that, I am so very grateful.

I am grateful that all of that was planned, agreed upon and obeyed humbly since before the beginning of time (John 1:1-3, Genesis 1:26).

I am grateful for our military and all who serve, have served, or who will serve. Those brave men and women who go beyond the call of duty and do the things that are needed to do if we are going to stay free and safe, I cannot thank them enough. I owe them almost as much as I owe God, a debt I could never repay and for which there are not enough words. I am grateful nonetheless and I am humbled that they would go over there, risking life and limb, risking marriages and careers, risking heartache and pain in order to protect those I love — including my country — and myself. To my friend Connor, my cousin Patrick, and the others whose names I do not know, I humbly thank you.


I am so very grateful for all of that. The big things are easy to be grateful for though, aren't they? Health, a job that pays the bils, a family who is together for the holidays; those are the easy to be thankful for.

Big things.

Little things I am thankful for as well. One of my favorite "little things" is the joy of hearing my sons laugh while they are asleep. Yes, I do mean laugh out loud as they sleep. That means, to my ears at least, that their good times while they are awake are being translated into their dream time and they laugh. That's an excellent sign of having a good life. Isn't that what all of us want to give our children?

Another little thing I am grateful for is the joy of noticing. Noticing the tiny flowers that grow wild in our yard when our lawn goes uncut for a few extra days. I am grateful that I notice sunsets and call our sons and tell them to look at the sunset; and that they have
learned to call me and tell me to look. We get to share the beauty God has given us for the day. I notice the little things like spiderwebs glistening in the sun, butterflies resting on leaves, the song of a bird, the sound of a waterfall, the funny habits of my cat, and the beauty of a baby's smile. I'm grateful that my life isn't so full, so busy, so crowded with the other things that I forget to take notice of the things that are right in front of me, the things God Himself has provided. I'm grateful that I still have a sense of awe and wonder because all of those things — and millions of others — are awe inspiring and wonderful.

I am grateful for the joy of a childlike heart. Most who know me well know that I have a little kid inside me. I have a koala bear collection of almost 300 koalas. I still have my own coloring books and Crayons®, I have my own MegaBlocs® and  I collect and play with GooGoo Dolls® (a tiny doll that was the girls' equivalent to Transformers; a three inch high cash register that opens up to become a toy department with two little dolls inside, etc.). I am the first to say yes to something silly, the first to agree to a waterballoon fight, and the first to think of sitting outside on a cold night during the Christmas season without shoes and socks on and listening to Christmas music while drinking hot cocoa while huddled under a blanket. Yes, that's one of our traditions. Goofy?
Maybe. Fun? Absolutely!

I am grateful for code words. Code words that tell loved ones that things are okay, or that you are thinking of them, or that they are special. My sons and my husband each have nicknames (codewords) that I have given them. I will not tell them here, but we use them within our family and it means something each time we use them. It says that within this group of people—the people who know your secrets, fears, sins and errors — you are still loved and accepted. We have words we use that remind us of other things, other
places, movies we've seen, or incidences we've watched. We use things like, "Eee ee eee ee," a silly code that tells us all omething.
Another is, "Suddenly!" and that tells us all something else. We know these codes and we are comfortable using them because it means we are within the confines of people we can trust implicitly.

I am grateful for little inventions that make life so much easier. Pens, pencils and paper, for instance. I watched the show "Dirty Jobs"
today and on it the host learned how to make parchment paper. It's a long, tedious process and it's also very, very gross. It's not something I would want to do on a regular basis. Without those three things, though, where would we be? Quill and parchment paper, the Church or the Crown, rich folks and rulers the only ones being able to afford any written word. The little things that make the big things possible are forgotten and ignored in the big scheme of things. But without those little things — the transistor of the transistor radio, the punch cards of the old computers — that often get overlooked even though they are the foundations, where would today's technology, learning, or ideas be?

I could go on, but I shall stop now. I am spending this Thanksgiving with my husband and sons. We have no big plans except to be grateful for each other and those we love and the things we appreciate; big and little. It shall be a quiet Thanksgiving, but it shall be
heartfelt and it shall be full of "Thanks!" both to people and to our Lord above, to whom we owe so much.

Thank you, Lord, for another Thanksgiving. Thank you for another chance to remember our Founders and their efforts to make America the best country on earth. Thank you, Lord, that (though some deny it) the Founding Fathers based a lot of what America is — the ideas it stands for, the rules it runs by, the Constitution that was written and mentions You in the Preamble — based upon and for God's glory. Thank you, Lord, that You have given Your Son for our sins. Thank you, Lord, that You have given me the big things — health, hearth, family, income, etc. — as well as the small. Thank you, Lord, for the future yet to be, the past that is unchangeable, and the present in which we all have a chance to change, to make a difference and to do what is right in Your eyes. Thank you, Lord, for helping me choose what is right.

Happy Thanksgiving.