One Thousand Gifts-The Gift of Work.

It’s Monday. There is always so much work to do on Monday. The house is trashed after a weekend of being away more than at home, and it seems so much harder for the kids to get into the school routine on a Monday. That’s on top of all the other stuff that never ends but that I deliberately try not to have to do on weekends so there’s time together as a family.

I start Monday from far, far behind. The rest hardly seems worth the extra work it brings after.

Today seems a terrible day to try and stop to give thanks. Yet isn’t that when it’s most important to remember?

So today I give thanks for the piles of paper; they are evidence of a life full of blessings most of the world only dreams of. I give thanks for all the laundry to wash fold and put away; we are well clothed and warm. I give thanks for the fractious, restless, and cranky children; I would not trade them for anything. I give thanks for the responsibilities I have, large and small; it means that I have been given much blessing. I give thanks for the fussy teething baby who is healthy and strong.

I give thanks because it is the way out of grumbling, irritation and stress. I give thanks to find life.

Some of this week’s list:

• Cool sunny days to lounge outside in.
• Huddled under blankets with Aaron watching a show.
• Ginger chews in fancy tins.
• Little’s swingy new haircut.
• A friend calling me, so excited over a prayer answered.
• Neighborhood kids in the yard and everyone having fun.
• Hugging the Boy long when he smells like wind and sunshine.
• The way Jellybean stares in awe at his own hand raised above him.
• Wind rustling the tall maple tree.
• Girls going to sleep in daddy’s T-shirts.