Thanksgiving time

Thanksgiving and no daily blog?  I'm missing it.  I'm attempting to count my blessings though.  Thankfulness doesn't really come naturally, does it?  I adopted the idea of writing down 5 things for which I'm thankful each day before I go to bed.  I've done it for 3 years now, and it's fun to go back and look at what was going on in the past.  It has become a record of my life in a way.  I don't know that it's made me more thankful though.  How does one measure that? 

I read Ann Voskamp's 1000 Gifts this year, and though I was prepared to not like it, instead I was overwhelmed.  I still don't know why it touched me so much, but maybe it's because in many ways she was living my life.  I would start crying and then try to figure out why--strange.  Anyway, the book is about how learning thankfulness brought grace and peace to her life. 

This year, instead of hanging the huge yellow paper from the door, I decided to take a cue from Voskamp and look for specific things for which we are thankful each day.  It's been difficult, interesting, and enlightening. 

Uncharacteristically, I managed to jot down about 30 things on slips of paper BEFORE November arrived (Go Me!) and put them in the pumpkin basket.  Each morning--well, most mornings-someone chooses a slip from the pumpkin, and whatever it says is what we look for that day.  Vision does not usually match reality, so many days people share something they were thankful for that happened last year, or 3 months ago, but that's ok.  I guess thinking about being thankful is an important exercise regardless of the day. 

Today's item is something short.  That could be fun, or dangerous.  Lectures come to mind, dentist appointments, blogs... We'll see.  I hope that in the dailiness of life this will teach us to look for those gifts that we're given everyday.  It's just so easy to take them for granted--so find something short to be thankful for today.