"Today I Am..."

"Today I am thankful for..."

Each morning this month (except the one I already forgot and had to add in .... and it's only the 7th!)  I have made a status update on fb that began with the words..."Today I am thankful for ___." 

In Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts, she makes a practice of noting the little and mundane things that she is thankful for. 

How much in my life do I take for granted?

I know I do it and I am ashamed.  I see the greener grass, the shinier car, the tidier home, the thinner, the more chic, and it is so very easy to forget all my blessings.

Funny thing, I never (or rarely, one should never say never ;) ) take for granted the washer and dryer in my basement. 

We had been a family of five for a couple of years before we had our own washer and dryer.  Before that I was schlepping to laundromats once or twice a week.  Now, with eight of us, I do at least two loads of laundry a day and I am grateful each time I do a load that I can do it in my own home.  I have not forgotten what a gift doing laundry is. 

This weekend at the Women of Faith event, Lisa Harper, shared her analogy of God's love being like a pile of warm laundry which we can relax into.  This morning as I was pulling the soft, warm clothes out of the dryer I thought of that analogy, of how grateful I am to be able to do laundry for my family of eight, how God's love shines through that small task of clean clothes and how great it is to be able to do it. 

Sometimes I take my family for granted.  When the bickering gets out of control, when I step on pointy Legos in bare feet, when all I want is a few minutes to think in peace...I forget that it is a miracle that brought them to me.  You can talk about the science of eggs and fertilization, but let's not forget that you can have all the elements and still not have a baby.  I have friends experiencing infertility and my heart aches for them...and yet, I forget how blessed I am. 

Today, though as I pulled my son's shirt from the dryer and thought of Lisa Harper's analogy, I remembered....

Today I am thankful for warm and cozy, clean and miraculous.  Today I am thankful for reminders to be thankful and grateful and live life in the warmth of God's love. 

-Peace