Finding thanksgiving in the ordinary

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Burned out light bulbs, broken toilet seats, dead dryers, broken door locks, broken water heaters, and electrical outages remind me that reasons to be thankful abound in our daily lives. We can also look to other daily examples of beauty in nature and services for our family. Yes, we don’t need to look far to be grateful.

Home repairs provide generous opportunities. Once the bulbs are exchanged for new, the darkened room is illuminated. Once the dangerous toilet seat is replaced, one doesn’t need to fear a late night disaster. My handy husband can make a trip to a hardware store to get the required parts to fix the broken door handle. I’m thankful for experts as we have need of them as well—take the electrical outage example. After going without hot water for a few days, turning on the tap to hot water is a reason to rejoice, you can be sure! I don’t mind hanging out laundry, but with a large family, having a working dryer in the laundry room makes me happy. Very happy.

Sunsets painted across the sky, double rainbows peeking out just before dusk, a glimpse of a hummingbird darting past the window, wild flowers waving in a field, and monarchs resting on petunias are examples of nature’s beauty that will bless us if we stop a minute to appreciate them. It’s well worth the time to stop to enjoy them because life is too short to always be working or rushing. I have found that stormy days are blessings in disguise as they make me slow down and sometimes change direction for the day. On windy days, I’ve noticed a variety of seed types blowing and rolling across my subdivision. A breeze cools me when I’m hot and also soothes me by setting my chimes to tinkling a pretty tune. Sometimes my daughter and I search for cloud pictures which can be fun or entertaining if we get imaginative.

Completing our cleaning chores can also provide opportunities for thankfulness. Cleaning my bathrooms can be frustrating because every time I think the floor, sink, or bowl is sparkling clean, I see more hair. So I sweep or wipe the area with my rag again. Sometimes I don’t have a happy attitude when things go on too long, but recently I realized that it is a good thing to have lots of hair for it means we are all healthy. We can be thankful for all the things we are able to do.

I hope these examples have helped you to discover some gifts we sometimes overlook. So, thank you, kind reader, for sharing Thanksgiving musings with me. I hope you have a blessed day with your family and friends. I’m missing a few people at my table this year—and they will be missed because they are loved—and there we have another reason to say thank you—thank you for the ability to love. We really are blessed in so many ways even in our disappointments.

God bless you all. Until next time. . . count your blessings. Happy Thanksgiving!