What are you thankful for? I’ve seen lots of people doing the 30 days of thankful on Facebook. I, personally, have not. I did last year. And it was a real eye opener. There was something that happened last year that really changed my life & my outlook on life. My 5 year old drew a house. He actually drew houses every day. He is not real artistic and sometimes I thought he drew them because it was the only thing he could draw & you could recognize what it was. Anyways, I had asked him what he was thankful for and he drew a house. Surprise. I asked why he drew that house. He said, ” You asked what I’m thankful for, and this is it, my home. I love my bed. I love my bedroom. All my toys are here. You and daddy & my brothers are here. It’s warm. You make good food here. Why do you think I draw houses all the time?” And he walked away. Silly me. I looked at my house and saw holes in the wall where the people who lived here before us must have hung every.single.picture/wall hanging/whatever they had into the wall. I saw cabinets that needed replacing, carpet that should have been pulled up years ago. Then I thought about it more. Our house is big enough for us all, all of our stuff, it is warm when it needs to be a cool when it should be…so what if it needs a little work? Unless your house is brand new, it probably could use some work.
I quit thinking about what I “needed”. And I use quotes because it wasn’t really what I needed at all. I made a promise to myself to look for the good. Focus on what we HAVE. It really is ENOUGH. And to do it DAILY. I made amends with some relationships in my life that needed work. I started spending QUALITY time with my kids. We are together 24/7. I have to beg them to stay with their grandmother for a night. And always feel bad after I do it. Sometimes though, our time wasn’t being spent like it could have been. I started making myself aware of my blessings daily, not just at Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is next week. Next. Week. As a child, it seemed like forever in between holidays. As an adult…days fly by, months start over in the blink of an eye, and it seems you can’t get through one holiday before the next rolls in. Being a homeschooling family, I feel like we get to enjoy our holidays. We can make crafts, do holiday themed work, watch holiday movies.
I really do feel bad for people who don’t get to enjoy their holidays, for whatever the reason may be. My wish for you this holiday season is that you spend time with the ones you love & ENJOY each other’s company. Be HAPPY!
And if at all possible…do something good for someone who needs the help. This year our family has “adopted” an angel off of our county’s Angel Tree. A little boy…just 4 years old. I have one of those. So we sat the kids down and explained to them that we were going to buy this little guy some Christmas presents because his family was not able to do it for him. I expected a lot of whys.
Why can’t his family? Why don’t they have money? Why does he not have any toys?
But you know what I got? “He can have my ninja turtle, I can earn money for more. He can have the money I earn each month. Can we go buy him something? What does he need?”
From a 6 and a 4 year old. A child can be so willing to give…and if you nurture that as a child, they will want to help as an adult. {I hope!} I’ve turned into the queen of online shopping and deals. There are very few things I buy in store for holidays & birthdays. There are AWESOME coupon bloggers out there who post all kinds of great shopping deals. I hit some sales, done some online shopping…and spent a total of $15.35 shipped to my front door, on toys for this little boy that was regularly priced $69.99. Socks on clearance, nice clothes that was on sale and shipped for free. These little things are going to make this little boy’s Christmas. A child who wasn’t going to get anything! Looking around at your children, do you fully grasp that?! I pray that you, reader, are never in that situation. I hope your kids have never gone without on Christmas, I hope that your family has never had to go hungry, or been cold at night. If you have been, I hope that someone extended a hand and helped you. No one person can help everybody, no one expects you to. But, if you can help, please do. Go in with another family & take an angel together if you want! Anything you could do to help, you have no idea how much it will mean to someone.
If you are local to me and would like more information on adopting an Angel, please contact me.
“Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping them up.”
The Sand Box 