Thank you, Briley

Today I'm thanking Briley. Briley is better known as Daughter 2. If you keep up with me on Facebook, you know that she's an avid softball-er and keeps me in stitches with her wit and humor.

I have no idea where she gets it.

The good news is that she's always been this way. Where Hadley's been serious, Briley's been not serious. As a baby, Hadley did more crying than Briley did--this was usually because we wouldn't let Hadley pick up her baby sister, and Briley was all like, "What? I left the womb for this?"

But, Briley's also intense. She loves intensely. She gives her whole heart to her passions. She thinks of others first. She loves God and the idea that while her life is wonderful here, greater things are waiting for her in the next life.

She feels compassion and empathy for those less fortunate. While she's fiercely competitive, she is sad for those lose. She's lonely for those who are friendless. She aches for those who are hungry, cold and needy.

But she's also willing to back up her feelings with actions. She constantly has an activity going or a plan brewing or a stream of intelligent (sometimes) and entertaining (always) words coming from her mouth.

Most importantly, she completes our family. I used to dream of having three or four children. But, once Briley joined us, I knew she and Hadley were enough. They filled my heart.

Besides, who could follow this kid?

Thank You, Hadley

This morning, our pastor challenged us to not take notes during his sermon, but to write down people we for whom we are thankful.

I took notes because no one can tell me what to do.

Kidding. Kinda. I did take notes because it's hard to break old habits and he said some really cool things that I wanted to remember.

But, this challenge to think of people for whom we are thankful inspired me.

So, today, thank you, Hadley.

She's better known as Daughter 1. She's my first-born. She was wanted long before she came to be--four years, in fact, almost to the day. I'm thankful for her because she made me a momma.

For years, Brian and I tried to have babies without any success. (Brian would argue that the trying was just as important as the end result.) I was at a point in my life where I just knew I was destined to not be a momma--and that was heartbreaking to me.

There are many days since then, then I believe maybe I wasn't supposed to be a momma because quite frankly, there are days that I suck at it. Case in point, today.

I prayed that my daughter would be strong and smart and self-sufficient. So, it's my own fault, basically.

She became a teenager this week. I have to admit that so far, the years are getting better, this morning's text exchange withstanding. Or maybe it's because I'm getting used to this thing called motherhood. I've always been a slow learner.

Her birthday cake of choice was dirt cake. It wasn't, as the picture would have you believe, gruel.

But, today, I say thank you to my beautiful first born:

The one who made me a momma
The one who has mastered the art of the selfie and the silly pose

The one who is smart beyond my comprehension
The one who has my daddy's red hair
The one who has lofty goals and dreams and doesn't take no for an answer--

Thank you, Hadley.

PS--She has jeans and long-sleeve shirts. She just doesn't LIKE them.

Grace and Thanksgiving Day

I think this painting hung in Aunt Liz and Uncle John's kitchen above their table. As a child I would sit at the table waiting on the grown-ups to tell us it was time to fill our plates, and I would stare endlessly at this photo. I thought of how disappointed I would be if someone gave me just soup and bread.

As I grew older, but not wiser, I would stare at this photo and wonder why the man even bothered praying because no one else was at the table with him. Who would know if he prayed or not?

It's been a while since I've been to Aunt Liz and Uncle John's home--they've moved; I've moved. We've seen each other and see each other regularly. I'm not sure what happened to that photo, if they still have it. I'm not sure where they got it or why they had it. But it's a photo that has set itself on my mind and my heart this year.

If someone gave me soup and bread, I'd be grateful. And I hope that when I have soup and bread, I can pass it on to the person who's been praying for it.

I don't necessarily bow my head publicly to give thanks, but I've learned to weave whispers of gratitude throughout my day ... even when, maybe especially when, no one is watching.

I hope The Daughters can have their own evolution of thankfulness. I hope they realize to be thankful for every event, every thing, every person, every grain of bread and every drop of soup. And I hope they always possess a thankful heart.

Source

Those things and people and situations and ideas for which I am thankful ... it's never-ending.

The prayer I whisper that all people may have such things and people and situations in their lives ... it's never-ending as well.

#ThankfulThursday: The Elderly

This week's opportunity for Thankfulness involved the elderly. The Daughters and I decided to decorate miniature pumpkins and deliver them to a local nursing home. We spent most of Tuesday night painting the gourds and then we delivered them Wednesday afternoon.

I took the girls to a nursing home where My Daddy had spent a few weeks after a debilitating stroke. I thought it would be a good time to visit with The Daughters about their Grampy, and we could talk about being thankful for our health and being thankful for long lives.

We had to be buzzed into the home and Daughter 2 wondered who was in there that was so important. Is the president's grandmother in here? Maybe a former mayor? OH! Maybe a movie star from the 80s is in here! Cool!

When we had to be buzzed out, she wondered why there had to be so much security. We had a good conversation about how residents didn't always like being there, didn't understand being there and weren't able to care for themselves if they were to wander outside the walls of the nursing home. It was a sobering lesson in the final days of life.

Since we arrived at nap time (which may be all day for all we know), we opted to decorate the tables in the dining room instead of giving them to specific residents, none of whom we knew personally. There was a couple sitting at one of the tables that thanked us for the decorations. Other than that, we received no official thanks ... and I was perfectly fine with that.

My sweet (and fuzzy) girls decorating the dining room.

It's good to do things without the expectation of recognition. In fact, we should do nice things everyday without expecting to be recognized for it. Another great lesson learned.

On the way out we noticed a post on a bulletin board asking for craft supplies. I imagine that nursing homes are often forgotten when people are looking to make donations. We have the requested supplies, so we'll be visiting them again.

Did you visit a nursing home this week? Tag your post and your pictures with #ThankfulThursdays so we can all be thankful together.

For next week: Let's be thankful for our health. Make several get well cards and deliver them to a local hospital. If there's not a hospital close by, deliver them to a doctor's office. Ask the nurse(s) to pass them out to patients who need a lift. You might also want to make some cookies or take some snacks for the nurses who tirelessly care for those patients.

Come back next week and check in--I want to hear how your #ThankfulThursdays are going!

#ThankfulThursday: Helpers

Last week, we were grateful for the helpers in our lives by baking some muffins or cookies or cakes or pies and delivering them to our neighborhood servants.

The Daughters and I made some yummy pumpkin muffins by plopping a can of pumpkin into a spice cake mix and baking them. The Daughters decided they didn't like pumpkin nor did they like spice cake mix, and they were very grateful to take the muffins to our fire department and not have to eat them themselves.

We talked about how, at any given time of day, for any need that we have our community has people who are willing to stop what they are doing, risk their lives for us and serve our community in any way ... such as eating pumpkin spice muffins that your mother made you make.

Daughter 2 was the spokes person of our group when we delivered. "We're counting down to Thanksgiving, and we wanted to say thank you and give you these muffins."

When the fireman replied that he loved pumpkin, The Daughters did not make any gagging noises or any pukey faces. That's progress, my friends.

Probably the most important part of this week's activity came when we got back into the car to drive home.

"What are we doing next and for whom?" (Really, she said 'for whom'--her momma is an English teacher, yo.)

"I like the way you think, honey," I smiled. 

So ... this week's #ThankfulThursday does not involve baking or cooking anything good or nasty.  

We need to remember across generations that there is as much to learn as there is to teach.-Gloria Steinem

This week, we're going to be thankful for the generations who have gone before us by visiting a nursing home and taking some fall decorations. 

If you wish, you can create several--as many as you can--crafts of your choice. We plan on painting several mini pumpkins and making a few pumpkin posters as well. We'll deliver those to the residents of a local nursing home. (Please be aware of small breakable pieces and dietary restrictions when you visit your local home.)

Check back next week and share about your #ThankfulThursday experience.

Thankful Thursdays: Week One

Last week, Daughter 2 and I had an experience with a street person. It struck a chord deep in my heart that made me want to be more intentional with our family's thankfulness this fall. Each week, we'll be celebrating Thankful Thursdays by honoring someone or something in anticipation of Thanksgiving. I hope you'll come along with us and report back how you and your family celebrate each week as well.

This week, we're thankful for helpers.

When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." ~Fred Rogers, Mr. Rogers

With your family bake some muffins and deliver them to the helpers in your community. Maybe you could take the muffins to the Fire Department or the Police Department or the Emergency Room or the Ambulance service. There are helpers all over our communities. Find them and celebrate them with a batch of muffins.

My family and I are making pumpkin muffins from this recipe, but feel free to make any kind of muffins you'd like. On Sunday, I'll share our experiences with this.

Report back either on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or Pinterest (send me an email for your invitation to the group board). Use the hashtag #ThankfulThursday

Next week, we'll be thankful for elderly.

Let's count down to Thanksgiving with a celebration a week!