Be thankful for all things great and small

By Staff
Michelle Blaylock, Mom's Corner
As I began thinking about Thanksgiving, I started to think of all the things I’m thankful for. Of course there is the “big” things like my Heavenly Father, my family, home, children, church, friends, health etc. However, there are many things that I forget to be thankful for on a daily basis.
For example, as I was doing laundry this week. I happened to think of the summer in Kentucky when we had four foster children (ages 2, 2, 4 and 4 – nope that’s not a misprint) and then my biological children that were 6, 8, and 11 years old. In case you’re still trying to add that up, it’s seven children under the age of 11 years old. I thought the laundry would never end!
On top of that my well intentioned husband accidentally tried to wash a 10-pound weight in our washing machine.
The end of the weight broke off during the spin cycle and smashed through the side of our washer.
After reviewing the damage, my husband looked at me and said, “How long can you do without a washing machine?” I looked at him like he was an idiot and replied, “Umm, 20 minutes.” His response was, “Oh.”
He went the next day and bought a new washer. Unfortunately, the money he used was the money for my birthday present. When he told me, I just beamed at him and said, “I don’t care. As far as I’m concerned it is the best present you’ve ever bought me and I’m thankful to have it!”
Sometimes I think it becomes easy to take our everyday conveniences for granted, until we don’t have them. Remember a time we thought paying $1.99 for a gallon of gas was outrageous? I would be thankful to pay it now. However, I am thankful that I can still get gas and it isn’t rationed.
I’m thankful for being able to walk into a grocery store and find what I need. There are people in many countries that don’t have that option. They have to go to an open air “market.” There is no FDA to make sure their food is safe to eat.
This past summer at one of our softball All-Stars games the sponsors had provided “port-a-potties.” I quickly became very thankful for indoor plumbing! I also found that I was very thankful for the canopy that my husband bought at our first game.
Have you considered being thankful for newspapers, radio, and TV that isn’t government controlled?
Granted I don’t always agree with the points of view that are expressed, but at least I’m not arrested (or worse) for expressing my own point of view.
When one of the kids left the lights on in the van all night, I would have been very thankful if I had had a vehicle that would run. Fortunately, I was able to jump start the van off my daughter’s car.
I was actually thankful she was running late to class that day.
I hope you take time this Thanksgiving to be thankful for everything in your life. If you have a question or comment for Mom’s Corner, please e-mail it to: moms-corner@juno.com