Thankful

Lisa is hosting a thankfulness fair of sorts.  I have written three posts for it, but it feels so inadequate.  Do I list the ability to walk and run or my DSL connection?  Do I talk about the society we live in where there are organizations who will help people who need it or do I list Tivo?  I am so thankful for it all!  Little things, big things - this is the hardest post I've ever written.

1. We are so blessed with books.  I am thankful for the days spent with these great stories, illustrations, and teaching tools.
2. I am thankful for my daughter's doctors who listened to my concerns at her 3yr. check up and referred us to an eye doctor.  She is terribly far sighted and has amblyopia.  Amblyopia is easy enough to fix if you catch it before age 8 or so.  We did and her vision has gone from beyond legally blind in her left eye to 20/30 with her glasses on.  All thanks to good doctors and a little cloth patch.
3. I am thankful for food.  We live fairly close to a Super Target that supplies us with fresh, healthy food, and as much organic produce as we can afford.  There are so many people who nit pick about organic vs. locally grown vs. GMOs (I am one of those people....) But when my children are hungry I have the ability to feed them.  That is not something that everyone can say.
4. I am thankful for my own doctors who kept me pregnant long enough to deliver two healthy babies.
5. I am so very thankful for coffee.
6. For my sisters - for their education that created two walking, talking catechisms.  I am so grateful for their guidance.
7. I am thankful for these blogs.  They convinced me to homeschool and supply me with so many ideas, resources, prayers, laughs and friends.
8. I am thankful for other mommys who know exactly how funny it is when you call and begin the conversation with, "Guess where Baby just threw up?"(true story) and they will laugh with you and make everything so much better.  And you so don't want to know the answer to that question.
9. I am thankful for my Church.  It is the only group who has never steered me wrong.  Republican, ehhh.... Democrat, ummm... No, I am Amercian and I am Catholic.  I haven't found one single doctrine that doesn't make sense to me. 
10. I am thankful for my parents taking us all over the country in a Suburban and showing us the beauty of the forests, rivers, and mountains.  It made me who I am.

Comments

[Margaret in Minnesota]

Awesome list! I agree with your opening comments: I decided to keep my list fairly light-hearted, but I guess one could read between the lines to get to the "heart" of what I'm thankful for.

I'd love to talk to you more about #3 on your list, and of course I really liked #5!

Have a blessed day!

[Karen E.]

Well, remember, there are more Thursdays in November ... Lisa wants to do this all month. So you can agonize over even MORE posts. :-)

Ditto on the coffee and esp. ditto on:
"I am thankful for my Church. It is the only group who has never steered me wrong. Republican, ehhh.... Democrat, ummm... No, I am Amercian and I am Catholic. I haven't found one single doctrine that doesn't make sense to me."

I say exactly the same thing. No one listens, but I keep saying it. "Catholic" does not fit neatly into either political party ... I'm Catholic. Period.

[Katherine in TX]

What a great list! Tivo came to my mind too when I was writing. :) I especially love #9.

[Jenn Miller]

Love your list, Jennifer. #1 really rings true with me, but #2, wow! What a blessing!

[Suzanne Temple]

Great list! #10 makes me want to buy a camper when the house sells and make ours a traveling homeschool!

[Amy]

Great list! I'm chuckling about how many people have coffee on the list! :)

[Diane]

Jennifer, for all of the agonizing, you done good. Real good. I enjoyed this peek into your life.

So happy for you about #2. My dd, who was adopted at age 7, has this and it was never treated. She is basically blind in one eye and nothing can be done about it. I pray that the other eye will always remain healthy. She doesn't let it hold her back though.

And re: #10, we plan to tour the US via our minivan and a pop-up for 60 days next summer, right after we've finished dragging our kids all over Europe for 3 yrs. I hope they will one day feel the same as you do.

[Faith]

Hi Jennifer! I thought I'd come check out your list, since you checked out mine. I,too, love your #9. That is exactly how I feel!