Giving Thanks

I just taught our family home evening lesson on the typical November lesson-- gratitude. We talked about the blessings of living with gratitude and how mad it makes Heavenly Father when we don't. We played Blessing Charades-- Mike was trying to act out how he was thankful for his mother, but it ended up looking like he was thankful for jackhammers.

As I sit here listening to my kids making their family night treat with Nilla wafers and Reddi-whip (they were both reduced fat-- it's not quite as bad as it sounds), I'm thinking that I need to be grateful for things beyond the home, family, and church answers. Here's what I've got (in random order):

I'm thankful for a husband who seems constantly attracted to me, no matter what size I am.

I'm thankful for a playroom with a door where my kids can play to their hearts' content and I rarely have to see the results.

I'm thankful that for tonight, I can sit and be proud that my house is clean and my laundry is done.

I'm thankful for friends who keep me on my toes, who share their lives with me, and who genuinely care about how my day is going.

I'm thankful for parents who taught me the value of work, of loyalty, of laughter, and most of all who taught me that the most important thing you can give a child is the good example of your own life.

I'm thankful for mint M&M's-- and for the fact that they are only around for a couple of months a year, lest I gain back all of the weight it took me so long to lose.

I'm thankful for my daughter's willingness to help me in the kitchen, for little boy hugs and sloppy kisses, and for the beautiful sound of them all snoring in their bedrooms at night.

I'm thankful that when I got married, I got a second set of parents who I love like my own. I'm thankful that I got the big sister I never had in the bargain.

I'm thankful for sisters who are more like friends than family, although being family is pretty dang good too.

Most of all, I'm thankful for a Heavenly Father who knows me well enough to give me a life that's easy enough to be fun and hard enough to make me grow. I'm going to spend more time telling Him thanks.