Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is upon us and is a wonderful time with family, good food and conversations. It is also a good time to reflect on all the many things we have been blessed with. It is easy to be thankful for a new baby, a pay raise, or a gift from a friend, but in this season of thankfulness, I want to encourage you to be thankful for those ordinary things, the things we sometimes take for granted.

All of us work; whether outside in the workplace, homeschooling our children, caring for the things in our home, or serving others. It is so easy to complain about the busyness in our lives and forget to look for those small things to be thankful for. It is a blessing to actually have a job to do, have a family to care for, and others around us that need our help.

Your house, whether it be big or small, is something to be thankful for! It is primarily a shelter for those that live there but it is also a place where you are making memories for your family and loved ones.

Those dirty dishes in the sink and the pile of laundry in the hallway? They are reminders that you have dishes to eat off of, food to eat, and enough clothes to do laundry with. Tangible, everyday things that are a blessing to have. And those sometimes annoying signs of the precious people in your home? They can actually be a great reminder to be thankful that you have a husband, children, or others living with you.

The days when your family might be struggling with sickness can be very hard. And being reminded of the technology that we have in this day and age gives us many reasons for gratefulness! Could you imagine being sick in the Middle Ages? Today we have access to modern medicine, knowledgeable health workers, and information on the internet. This is such a blessing!

Then we sometimes have those very hard homeschooling days when nothing seems to get done. You all know what I am talking about! It’s those days when the younger children get into the markers, the older one doesn’t understand their math, a science experiment goes all over the kitchen floor, and you forget to turn on the slow cooker for dinner. But there can be thankfulness in that. Thankfulness that you actually have little ones to make messes. And thankfulness that we live in a country where homeschooling is not only legal but becoming more and more popular.

And that view out your window, of a blue sky, the white cotton clouds, the setting sun with all of its glorious colors, that reminds us of one of the most important things to be thankful for: that God has given us such a beautiful world to live in.

So during this time, when you are reminded to be thankful, remember the small things. The things that are there not to discourage us, but to remind us of all our blessings.

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Thank you Charlotte @ Joyful Hearts and Faces for writing this article. Charlotte is a second-generation homeschooling mom to four blessings. Connect on social media on Instagram.

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