My Children and Gratitude!

Yesterday being Thanksgiving, I certainly intended to compile an exceptional blog post. The best of intent failed and rather, we celebrated a day of rest and of all we have to be grateful for.

I’ll keep this quip short and spare you the details. Suffice it to say, my children are my own best teachers. We sat down to discuss why we donate things and time during this season rather than accumulate more. Really. We spend an entire year accumulating things and the most important things in life are not things!

First, a gift is a sacrifice. In giving, we are cutting something out of our own life to bestow something to someone else. You can choose to spend money, but you cannot choose to spend time. In our home, my husband has learned this. In our seven young years together, I have taught him that the things I value most are time, health and words of affirmation. He is kind and generous to give me all of those things and today, to give me time. His love languages are different. We complement each other and this gift is many fold in that it gives him time to bond with his girls sans my rigidity and my day-so. They love daddy and enjoy the special moments equally. And this practice enables me to be a kinder, gentler, more peaceful wife and mom. 🤪

Secondly, a gift cannot be earned. It is free. It has no Black Friday specials. It cannot be won, achieved, exchanged for in-kind value. It is a GIFT. A true gift has no expectation. No strings attached. That is beautiful. Like I said, the many long runs and quiet coffees and journaling opportunities are always refitted for a better purpose after the gift has been enjoyed.

Third, you can choose to accept or reject a gift. If I were to reject these gifts my husband lovingly sacrificed, it would crush him. He has even said it literally gives him great joy to provide this for me. I AM SO GRATEFUL AND SO BLESSED. And more at peace, healthier, more gentle, more loving, kinder, more generous, more personable, more human, more understanding and more reflective. My time at home is of greater quality, higher value, better utilized. Everyone wins but only if I consciously accept this gift. Like salvation or forgiveness....it cannot be given on one end without being received somewhere else in the universe. It would be a gift in the ether. And the gift would lose its luster.

Not all who wander are lost.

Not all that glitters is gold.

I am grateful every moment. Grateful every day. More of a thankful person than I was a decade ago. And much work must still be done, but my greatest gifts here in earth are something I just want to run home and wrap in my arms! Today’s journey run #20 of 50 was cut short. I lose track of GPS and time on these. And spend the quiet time in rhythmic breathing thinking about Heaven and the people I love.

Hoping you, as you read this, have much to give thanks for!