Thanksgiving {2013}

Late last week I was admiring some amazing photographs taken by my cousin's daughter Ana, when I stumbled across some words on her blog that really resonated with me. Words that remind me to approach days like today, Thanksgiving, with a gracious heart...even when I know that there are parts of me that hurt. 

Ana ever so wisely said...

"Thanksgiving isn't only about the good stuff.  The delicious food, family gathered, new jobs and a blossoming photography business. It's about finding the good in the not-so-good. Thank you God for my difficult college classes, they helped me appreciate my free time more fully. Thank you God for that terrible cold, it gave me a week to rest. Thanksgiving is about recognizing God in it all and bowing down in praise."

And while this kind of graciousness doesn't always come as second nature, her words hold so much truth. 

Today (and every day) I am thankful. Thankful for the good days - those filled with family, laughter, snuggles and new milestones. Days where I can sit back at the end of the day and watch my baby boy and his daddy roll around on the floor, play catch in the living room and chase each other around our kitchen island, screeching and giggling all the while. But I'm also thankful for those inevitable days that are a little more challenging.  Days where tears seem to outweigh giggles, where new teeth get the best of us all, where a determined spirit feels more like down right stubbornness.  Days where I just want to be angry that my little family will always feel somewhat incomplete. Despite it all...and in it all...we remain so incredibly blessed.

So today among all of the obvious, I'll say out loud...

Thank you God for little boy tears, for they provide the opportunity for extra snuggles and loves.

Thank you for teething.  CRAZY, I know, but Charlotte never had teeth. Each new one that pops up in our little guy's mouth is a reminder of how blessed we are to have had him for 17 months, 8 teeth and counting.

Thank you for stubbornness, for it teaches me much needed patience.  

Thank you for early morning wake up calls, for we know that tomorrows are never guaranteed.

Thank you for this life that we have been blessed with.  It hasn't been, and probably never will be, easy, but I have learned so much because of its challenges.  I appreciate and celebrate the little things in a way that I know I didn't just 3 short years ago. Today we are thankful.  Thankful for the good and for the ability to find the good when it's a little less obvious.