Thankful for the Dog

 "I must stay whole by keeping what I know, what I feel, and what I do in alignment with God's truth about who I am."

Peanut and I have been participating in a 21 days of Gratitude Challenge.

For the first few days Peanut was very excited. She would do her devotion video (a playlist of videos about gratitude) and then work on her "Gifts List."

The first day she eagerly listed a long time - Mommy, Daddy, listed the relatives by name, the dog, the house, the weather, the friends. The list went on and on.

On day two she asked me "What do I write now?"

I challenged her to think about the day before. What did we have to be thankful for that happened yesterday?

She thought through her day and was able to make another lengthy list.

By day 4, she informed me she'd already written down "everything" she could be thankful for.

Everything I asked?

Why yes she assures me. She's thought of it all. She's been thankful for it all.

Perhaps I told her.

Perhaps you have been thankful for all the things but are you still thankful for them? Is there a limit on how many times you can be thankful?

Are you missing new gifts?

As I've walked her through these 17 of 21 days, I've realized that my own gifts list is pretty superficial.

I'm thankful for the crazy dog who almost always makes me smile and who has taught me what steadfast devotion looks like.

But am I thankful for the hard growing season we're slowly trying to come out of?

Am I thankful for the health challenges that face loved ones?

Am I thankful for change?

It's easy to be thankful for the surface........the stuff that makes most kids' lists.

It's much harder to be thankful for the stretching and challenges. For the loss and the grief. For the worse of the better or worse, for the sickness of the sickness and health, for the poorer of richer and poorer.

Mama Warriors this week many of us will enter a week of togetherness.

While some of you swear that you love all the togetherness, I'm going to confess that often all that togetherness makes me forget what I'm thankful for.

Somewhere amongst the more dishes, more laundry, more strife over shower schedules, let's make space this week to be thankful for the elusive more.

Let's be people who 21 days in can still find something deeper to be thankful for.

Something more than the dog.

Though let's all admit, he's pretty great too